Chelsea continue to surprise in a transfer market that lacks any logic. It is not yet official, but Fabrizio Romano has already given the go-ahead for Genk's Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders. The transfer specialist confirmed to X that the London club have reached an agreement with the northern European club to sign one of the continent's most promising goalkeepers.

The signing of Penders is surprising because Chelsea continue to pay too little attention to the first team, while at the same time continuing to sign young players of the future. Specifically, with Penders the Blues would already have 9 goalkeepers on the payroll: Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen, Marcus Bettinelli, Djordje Petrovic, Lucas Bergstrom, Eddie Beach, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Gabriel Slomina. Even stranger is this transfer considering that Jorgensen, a new signing, is also only 22 years old.

As for Penders, he is 19 years old and is one of the goalkeepers with the best future in Europe. He has already played two games for Genk this season, conceding three goals but leaving a very good impression. The signing of the Belgian could be similar to the one that the Stamford Bridge outfit carried out more than a decade ago with Courtois, but then the Londoners only paid 8.95 million euros as opposed to the nearly 20 million euros -including bonuses- that Penders could cost.

Like the current Real Madrid goalkeeper, the young Belgian goalkeeper is 2 metres tall, has similar characteristics and has been brought up through the youth ranks at the same club. As with another recent signing, Aaron Anselmino, Chelsea will let Penders spend at least one season on loan in Belgium, after which he is expected to join the club in 2025.

August 8, 2024

Mike Penders

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