THE loan move of Mike Penders to Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg makes the goalkeeping situation look even clearer.
With Marcus Bettinelli and Djordje Petrovic leaving the club, Enzo Maresca’s ‘keeper line-up for next season looks like Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen and young American Gabriel Slonina, in that order.
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Unless…
Rumours of Chelsea having another go at signing AC Milan’s Mike Maignan have not gone away.
Stats gurus say the France international would be the perfect fit for the Blues, because he is excellent with his feet as well as top class in most other aspects of goalkeeping.
Meanwhile, big clubs around the world are aware that Gianluigi Donnarumma has not signed a new contract at Paris Saint-Germain and the European champions are poised to bring in Lucas Chevalier from Lille.
Chelsea, Manchester United and Galatasaray could also be interested in a new ‘keeper, leading some observers to put two and two together.
But in the Blues’ case, the answer is probably five. Aside from the biggish transfer fee that PSG would want, Donnarumma’s £300,000-per-week wages just would not fit into the Chelsea owners’ blueprint.
Deals to bring in defender Jorrel Hato and attacking midfielder Xavi Simons will go through sooner or later.
But the big question is whether Maresca and the Blues are willing to put their faith in Sanchez for another season.
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Or will they go back in, and hard, for Maignan? The August 10 friendly against AC will give the people who matter the chance to have another chat about him.
BLUE HORIZONS
CHELSEA’S fire sale continues to gather pace, but some moves will be more complicated than others.
Joao Felix is making a swift exit to Saudi Arabia while Djorde Petrovic has joined Bournemouth.
Other deals are proving more challenging.
Carney Chukwuemeka, the midfielder signed from Aston Villa in a £20million deal two years ago, spent last season on loan with Borussia Dortmund.
And he has his heart set on going back to join the German side.
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Chelsea have been holding out for up to £40m for the 21-year-old, who has also attracted interest from RB Leipzig.
Chukwuemeka is clear that he only wants a move back to Dortmund, but they are only considering a loan at this stage – something which is not as attractive to Chelsea.
This has resulted in somewhat of an impasse in talks, something which looks like it could take a while to get past.
Someone is going to have to budge.
BLUE IT
THERE was excitement among Chelsea fans – and supporters of other clubs were furious – when reports went round of the club’s owners investing another £339m.
But what sounded like a substantial transfer warchest was in fact another bit of sensible accountancy.
For a start the actual figure Stamford Bridge chiefs put into the club by means of the June 30 share issue was just over £339,000.
In layman’s terms, millions of new shares in Chelsea FC Holdings were created and bought by Blueco 22 Midco, one of the firms through which the owners control the club.
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Why? 339k does not get you much in football these days.
But the date of the transaction is significant – the final day of the Blues’ financial year.
Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules allow clubs to lose an average of £35m per season or a maximum of £105m over each three-season reporting period.
But that limit is only £5m per season (£15m in total) unless owners put new money in the form of equity (not loans) into the club every year.
Chelsea bosses did the same thing on June 29 2024, just before the end of that financial reporting period.
So this year’s share issue wasn’t to fund the big spending of the summer.
It was simply to give Chelsea the biggest amount of leeway possible for PSR purposes, which they are likely to need BECAUSE of the outlay on transfers.
BLUE SKIES
CHELSEA stars have flooded social media with photos from their glamorous vacations.
Player of the season Moises Caicedo picked up another award while back in his native Ecuador.
The country’s parliament presented Caicedo with the Vicente Rocafuerte medal, the highest civilian honour for sporting excellence, in recognition for his role in Chelsea’s Club World Cup win.
But the most heartwarming snaps came from club captain Reece James.
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Earlier in the weekend, James posted footage of him out and about in Basel.
And on Sunday, the man who lifted the CWC trophy was celebrating as sister Lauren, one of six members of the Chelsea women’s team in the England squad, became a European champion.
TICKET WOES
SOME Chelsea fans have been left furious at the club’s new ticketing system, with many unable even to get close to attending the first game of the season vs Crystal Palace.
The new system, in partnership with Ticketmaster, has been controversial since its introduction, but has now left fans wishing they could get a refund for the £60 “premium” membership they bought before the season began.
True Blue member Aadam told the Chelsea Files: “The new Chelsea ticketing system is a joke.
“I had 136 points last season, went to loads of games including the final in Poland, but didn’t even get a shot at a Palace ticket.
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“At least with the old system, there was a chance, and now even my mate with a season ticket can’t help out on the new system.
“Total shambles and I wish I could get a refund for my £60 membership!”
But other supporters said they liked the new system, which puts all members trying to buy tickets into a queue and gives them a number in that queue that gives a good indication of their chances of getting anything.
The process favours the more casual fan who can’t afford to attend every home game but wants the opportunity to buy a few tickets per season.
But the queue of 10s of thousands trying to buy a ticket for the Palace game underlines the wider issue: Chelsea badly need a bigger stadium, and the sooner the better.
BADGE SHORTAGE
MORE frustration for supporters came in the Chelsea Megastore.
On Monday, some fans turned up at the Stamford Bridge shop hoping to buy the Club World Cup Winners patch for their shirts.
But the item was sold out.
Hopefully, the Blues have enough of them to make sure the men’s first team can at least wear them with pride.
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The Under-21 side who donned the new kit for the friendly at Bromley did not have the patch on their shirts.
It is unclear whether Enzo Maresca’s senior team will have the badge of honour for the friendlies against Bayer Levekusen and AC Milan, or wait until the first Premier League game against Crystal Palace.
