The Chelsea loanees who have been chosen to develop their game at Strasbourg this season have now been given their first opportunities to make an impact for their new side.
The youngsters who make the move to the fellow BlueCo-owned club are frequently the ones who the Blues have the most faith in succeeding, shown with Andrey Santos‘ 18 months there.
Mike Penders is one of those currently with the Ligue 1 club, after he was part of the Chelsea squad who won the Club World Cup less than a month ago.
It was reported there was a chance Penders was Chelsea’s number two goalkeeper next season, however they feel regular game time is what he needs in order to develop to reach the high levels they believe he can.
Mike Penders of Chelsea FC poses with the trophy during the
Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Mike Penders keeps clean sheet in Strasbourg debut after Chelsea loan
It looks as if the Belgian youngster is going to take over from Djordje Petrovic last season as the number one at the club. After a second XI side played earlier in the day, a team resembling the starters drew 0-0 with Mainz in a friendly on Saturday.
While no footage has emerged of the game, the Strasbourg social media coverage frequently mentioned that Penders was impressing. He seemed to make a number of good saves to protect his clean sheet.
MORE CHELSEA STORIES
Fellow promising Chelsea star Kendry Paez had featured earlier in the day, with him facing far more competition from the Conference League side in his position.
With Mathis Amougou and Ishe Samuels-Smith making permanent moves to France already, there will be plenty of interest in how Strasbourg do in the upcoming campaign.
Penders earmarked for big Chelsea future
Perhaps the reason why Chelsea have been reluctant to spend significant money on a new goalkeeper this summer is due to the fact they believe Penders is one of the future stars of the game.
It has been reported Chelsea were worried about Penders being loaned out too many times, with them seeing Thibaut Courtois not grow an affection for the club after spending years at Atletico Madrid.
Penders himself believes he is good enough to start for Chelsea, and if he continues to deny goals like he did in his Strasbourg debut, it may not be long before he gets his chance.
Chelsea look set to go into the 2025/26 campaign with Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen as their starting options between the sticks.