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EPL Penders is on loan at Strasbourg from Chelsea Sebastien Bozon/AFP via Getty Images Whatever Chelsea decide to do about their goalkeeping unit in the summer is a gamble. Sticking with their current pairing of No. 1 Robert Sanchez and deputy Filip Jorgensen, both of whom have damaged fans’ confidence with costly errors, risks a deeply frustrating situation where the pair continue to slip up at key moments next season. Entering a small market for a goalkeeper with the ball-playing ability manager Liam Rosenior desires could be a considerable financial undertaking. Advertisement Then there is the seemingly ready-made solution waiting on loan at Strasbourg. Mike Penders officially joined Chelsea in July 2025 and was immediately loaned to the Ligue 1 side which is also owned by the Blue Co consortium. He has been Strasbourg’s starting goalkeeper this season. That included a considerable overlap with Rosenior, meaning Penders is well accustomed to his demands. But he is 20 years old with no Premier League experience. If Chelsea decide a change is needed, is putting their faith in Penders rather than going into the market a risk worth taking? “He’s a really, really good goalkeeper, ” says The Athletic’s goalkeeping expert Matt Pyzdrowski, “and if he comes into the Chelsea environment and he continues to develop, he could be an exceptional goalkeeper. “First, he’s really good with his feet. He’s really started to show himself in the French league and show what he can do. He’s very comfortable stepping into the build-up. ” This is the perceived sticking point for Sanchez and Jorgensen under Rosenior. Neither has truly convinced fans that they have the composure necessary to take on the in-possession responsibilities Rosenior wants. Jorgensen’s awful intercepted pass away at Paris Saint-Germain, from which PSG scored their third goal, and Chelsea’s collapse to a 5-2 defeat began, is a hard image to shake, even though there were other similar situations where he played out successfully. Sanchez has not been immune to similar mistakes. Penders already has plenty of experience of this style at Strasbourg, and his data suggests far more confidence with the ball at his feet. He ranks highly among goalkeepers in the top five European leagues for passes completed per game and touches outside the box. The pass map below demonstrates a high volume of short passes and his tendency to step outside his box in build-up. “He’s already worked with Chelsea’s manager, ” Pyzdrowski says, “so obviously he has a comfort with him. He knows exactly the way that he wants to play. He knows how he wants to implement his tactics. And (Penders has) done a fantastic job. ” Advertisement Another strength Chelsea fans might appreciate, given their side’s poor record defending set pieces, is Penders’ aggressive approach to crosses. “He’s very good at reading the play, loves standing off his line, ” Pyzdrowski says. “As soon as he can read the situation and see that a cross is coming in, he’s out towards the edge of his six-yard box and already starting to creep forward. The challenge is predicting how easily those abilities would translate into the Premier League. “Even though he’s very promising and it looks like he’s going to be a very good goalkeeper, you never know how a guy’s going to transition, ” Pyzdrowski says. “The Premier League is a different beast. It goes faster. You have players who are more skilled. ” The fact that Penders is already used to Rosenior’s demands in possession should ease a transition, but even then, the challenges of competing aerially and commanding increasingly scrum-like set piece situations will be an adjustment. “There are still things (Penders) needs to improve, ” Pyzdrowski says. “Sometimes his positioning in general can be a bit off, where it’s very hard for him to come into balance and get set so he can react to a shot. When he does that really well, he has great explosion, he’s got a really good push. Because of his size, he covers a lot. “In those moments where maybe he doesn’t get set, and he’s not in balance, it’s very hard for him to get a good push — and because he is a bigger guy, he’s not the quickest. ” In the example below, we see Penders initially look to come out and claim a cross — before changing his mind and being unable to recover his position. “His spread has huge room for development, because he gets in situations where maybe he comes out and tries to use it (to close down angles), but he’s not good at using it. Even though he’s a big guy, he leaves a lot of holes. It’s often down to his timing, and he does have a tendency to turn his chest away from the ball, which opens up space. ” Pyzdrowski also highlights Penders’ tendency to parry the ball frequently rather than catching: “I will say it’s not often that he pushes it out into a super dangerous area, but he gives off a lot of rebounds. I think that’s a thing that he will have to develop as he gets older. ” Advertisement It is not difficult to see why Penders draws comparisons to fellow Belgian Thibaut Courtois. The Real Madrid goalkeeper initially joined Chelsea from Genk aged 19, and spent three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid before making his debut for the London club, where he went on to win two Premier League titles. Courtois is an example of where faith in a younger goalkeeper can pay off — though as Pyzdrowski points out, the Chelsea side he entered were in a “different place in their development” to this one, with more experience to lean on throughout their ranks. If Chelsea feel they need to add a goalkeeper, putting their faith in a 20-year-old with no Premier League experience would carry risk. But if they were to enter the market, goalkeepers with proven abilities to fulfil Rosenior’s ball-playing brief are difficult to come by, and could put an unwanted obstacle in Penders’ first-team pathway. “If I were them, I would try to be a bit patient. I would bring Penders back, get him in your environment now, work with him, hope he develops, ” Pyzdrowski says. “If Sanchez is better at first, it’s not a huge stress because it also gives Penders time to acclimate. ” If Chelsea think a change is needed, they have to choose between gambles: take what would likely need to be a big swing in the market, or put their faith in their pipeline to produce a safe pair of hands. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Cerys is a London-based writer covering Chelsea for The Athletic, as well as other London clubs and women's football. She joined The Athletic in summer 2025. Follow Cerys on Twitter @reallycerys