In a relatively out of nowhere drop a number of reporters alleged that Chelsea were making a move for AC Milan’s Mike Maignan. There was initial optimism that a deal would be done without many stumbling blocks, but one has now been hit and could throw off the deal for the “world class” goalkeeper.
Chelsea & AC Milan Far Apart on Valuations of Mike Maignan
Potential Deal Killer
Fabrizio Romano has doused the fires of the previous day by reporting that the two teams are far apart on valuations for the shot-stopper. That in itself isn’t really the worst thing ever as it can be resolved. What will get the heart rates of Blues’ fans spiking is the note that the English side aren’t prepared to wait and will move on from the deal by Monday if the conditions aren’t met.
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It’s quite the gap to fill with Milan wanting almost three times what the other party are offering. The Premier League team are in an advantageous position as the Italians missed out on European football and will need to sell for FFP reasons, in addition, the Frenchman is out of contract next year. All of this adds up to a stalemate between one crew looking for a bargain and the other needing to get the maximum value before losing a player for free.
Frustrating for Chelsea Fans
As noted by Romano, the Blues are happy with their contingent of goalkeepers with Mike Penders, Djordje Petrovic, Rob Sanchez, and Filip Jorgensen expected to compete for the two main spots during the Club World Cup and shortened pre-season.
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This might be bad news to some fans who have long been curious about the ceiling of Sanchez and Jorgensen, while the feeling around most fans is that Penders isn’t ready to make the step up yet. A veteran like Maignan with high-level experience could be a great stop-gap until the Belgian is ready to take over as the number one in a few seasons’ time.