'The next big thing': Chelsea have a 'generational talent' on their books who hasn't even played yet - journalist

Chelsea have an abundance of young talent, both in the squad and out on loan.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Chelsea were buying players at the peak of their powers or even sometimes, past their peak. That’s gone under BlueCo.

The oldest player signed this summer was 23-year-old Joao Pedro.

When you look at those training in the current squad, the oldest is 28-year-old Tosin Adarabioyo. Some youngsters settle right away, showing their class despite playing against men ten years older. Others need a bit of time.

That’s what loans are good for, and one Chelsea man currently out on loan is expected to develop to a world-class level.

Chelsea think Mike Penders will soon be a world-class goalkeeper

A lot has been made of Chelsea’s current goalkeeping situation.

Robert Sanchez is up and down, while his backup Filip Jorgensen hasn’t looked great in the games he’s featured in.

Chelsea have signed a ridiculous number of goalkeepers in recent seasons, but none that look like title-winning material. Think Alisson Becker, Ederson, David Raya. That’s the level Chelsea see 20-year-old Mike Penders reaching, according to Blues correspondent Matt Law.

On the London Is Blue podcast, Law explains how Penders is viewed by his parent club, saying: “We’ve talked about this. They definitely want to keep the Penders pathway open.

And they definitely do have thoughts that within the next two to three years, even maybe sooner if he has a good season this season, that he is going to be the number one and that they believe he will be right at the top of the game.”

Mike Penders given the ‘generational’ label

It’s not the first insight we have had that suggests Penders is a player to watch. Jamie Carragher recently made similar comments about the young Belgian, when he was discussing Man United’s new signing.

He said:”This is a goalkeeper (Lammens) that in circles both Manchester United and the wider industry is mentioned in the same breath as Mike Penders, another Belgian goalkeeper at Chelsea who’s on loan at Strasbourg.

“And these two are seen as kind of generational talents. The next big thing,”

It perhaps makes more sense that Chelsea haven’t replaced Sanchez if they really do expect Penders to be at that level quite soon. He has all the hype, but the next thing will be to see if he can do it at Stamford Bridge.

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