Just when you think these Chelsea sporting directors have signed enough teenagers – and enough goalkeepers – some very convincing and well sourced news comes from nowhere declaring that they’re… going to sign a teenage goalkeeper.
Bob Faesen of Belgian paper HLN is this afternoon reporting that Chelsea “want to go for” 18 year old Genk goalie Mike Penders, with the intention of loaning him back once the deal is done.
Penders has only played one senior game for the Belgian giants, but was previously the first choice of Jong Genk, their B team in the second division. He’s also a youth international at Under-19 level. He made his debut yesterday in the 0-0 draw against Standard Liege in the opening game of the league season, after replacing their previous number one Maarten Vandevoordt, who was signed by RB Leipzig and then loaned back to Genk in a similar setup to the one Chelsea are looking to employ.
The last time we agreed a deal for a young, 2 metre tall goalkeeper from Genk? Well, that was Thibaut Courtois, now the best keeper in the world. Let’s hope we’ve struck gold again.
Loan concerns growing
It’s becoming a hot topic every time Chelsea are linked with a player who is not yet ready for the first team – foreign loan slots. We are allowed just 6 players on loans outside the English league system, and there are already about 10 candidates for those slots. This would take up another one. He might be a really good player, but there are players worth tens of millions of euros we should be prioritising here. Do we really want to end up with Romelu Lukaku on loan at Burnley just because an 18 year old goalkeeper in Belgium showed promise in his first 90 minutes of league action?
