Chelsea look set to add another goalkeeper to their ranks this summer, with Mike Maignan being the latest player linked.
Maignan has racked up over 300 appearances in France and Italy and has been the AC Milan number one since 2021.
With just a year left on Maignan’s contract, Chelsea are aiming to add the Frenchman to their ranks to fix their supposed goalkeeping issues. The Blues have tried to resolve a goalkeeping issue ever since Thibaut Courtois left for Real Madrid in 2018.
At a price of €80m, Kepa Arrizabalaga was signed for Chelsea in 2018, becoming the most expensive goalkeeper in history, a record that holds to this day. Yet ahead of the 2025/26 season, Chelsea currently have six goalkeepers on the books, all of whom are apparently unworthy of being the club’s first choice.
So, who are these six senior goalkeepers, and what are they currently doing?
Chelsea’s Six Senior Goalkeepers
Robert Sánchez
Robert Sánchez signed for Chelsea from Brighton ahead of the 2023/24 season, for €23m. Sánchez has essentially spent his entire career in the English football pyramid, signing for Brighton’s academy in 2013 and being loaned to Forest Green Rovers and Rochdale.
He made just 17 appearances for Forest Green Rovers, but racked up over 50 for Rochdale before becoming a regular part of Brighton’s first team. For the Seagulls, Sánchez played 90 competitive fixtures, conceding 102 goals and keeping 29 clean sheets.
Sánchez was signed as a relatively experienced Premier League goalkeeper and conceded just eight goals in his first 10 competitive games for the club, keeping a clean sheet in five of those matches. His form dipped after those initial games, being cursed by several injuries, resulting in the Spaniard missing over four months.
He ended the season making 53 saves in 16 matches, with a save percentage of 67.9%.
Sánchez remained Chelsea’s number one for the 2024/25 season and remained injury-free. He managed to play 32 games across the season but conceded just nine more goals, improving his record but not improving enough to avoid being replaced in several matches by the second-choice keeper, Filip Jørgensen.
Filip Jørgensen
As mentioned, Filip Jørgensen got his chance to start for Chelsea in the Premier League when Sánchez was dropped to the bench for their match against Southampton. He had previously played in fixtures for the club, but in the Conference League against relatively easy opponents.
Winning the match 5-1, Jørgensen was dropped to the bench for a few games before being played against Ipswich. Ipswich were in a relegation spot but still beat Chelsea 2-0.
Jørgensen finally got a run of matches following a rough patch from Sánchez in February. Unfortunately, two losses in four matches meant that the 23-year-old would remain on the bench for the rest of the season.
Kepa Arrizabalaga
Kepa has had a disappointing time at Chelsea, playing in the Premier League 109 times across five seasons. He was loaned to Real Madrid for the 2023/24 season, however, he played just 20 times for the club, conceding 18 goals.
Kepa spent the entirety of last season on loan at Bournemouth. He impressed for the Cherries, making 35 appearances and keeping nine clean sheets.
It is reasonable to believe that the club could try to sign the keeper back, but it is uncertain as to what the cost will be, as Chelsea will probably want to recuperate some of Kepa‘s €80m price tag. With his contract running out in 2026, and allegedly wanting to stay on the south coast, Bournemouth could get themself a good deal.
Djordje Petrovic
In a similar fashion to Chelsea’s other goalkeepers, Djordje Petrovic was given a season-long chance before the club decided he wasn’t good enough. Petrovic joined for €16m in 2023, just a few weeks after fellow goalkeeper Robert Sánchez.
When Robert Sánchez was plagued with injuries, Petrovic stepped up and did his job by making 75 saves in 23 Premier League matches at a save percentage of 66.4%, not far off Sánchez’s.
Petrovic was loaned to Strasbourg for the 2024/25 season and impressed, conceding 38 goals in 31 Ligue 1 appearances and keeping 10 clean sheets.
Petrovic has a contract at Chelsea until 2030, giving the club strong control over the keeper’s fate. In spite of this, he has been linked to being made available for a transfer should the right offer appear. L’Équipe linked the Serbian with interest from AS Monaco; however, Chelsea’s valuation of €25m could prevent this move.
Marcus Bettinelli
Marcus Bettinelli has made just one competitive appearance for Chelsea since joining in 2021, a 5-1 victory over Chesterfield in the FA Cup third round, where the 33-year-old made two saves and had 33 touches.
He has made a couple of appearances for Chelsea’s youth team in the Premier League 2, but has never kept a clean sheet for the club. Bettinelli is at the club for other reasons than to play; most likely there to satisfy the Premier League’s homegrown rules and help mentor and coach the younger players in a similar role to Scott Carson at Manchester City or Tom Heaton at Manchester United.
Mike Penders
Mike Penders is the final name on this list, and the only one who could be described as up-and-coming. The 19-year-old Belgian recently finished top of the Belgian Pro League and qualified for the Europa League Qualification Stage through the Championship Round of the Pro League.
Making 21 appearances in the domestic league, Penders conceded just 19 goals – the only one of Chelsea’s goalkeepers to concede less than one goal per game last season. He also saved two penalties and saved 74% of the shots he faced.
Penders joined Chelsea at the start of the 2024/25 season and could be involved in the senior team next season after his impressive display for Genk. This being said, a loan move would be most likely with the young goalkeeper being linked to moves back to Belgium or France.