To borrow the words of Jim Bowen, let’s have a look at what you could have won, Chelsea.
Not a speedboat, nor a caravan, but Mike Maignan, the AC Milan goalkeeper with a few more miles on the clock than any Vauxhall Nova the legendary presenter ever teased on an episode of Bullseye.
The experienced Maignan is 30, France’s No 1, used to competing in the Champions League with Milan, and might have been in goal for Chelsea rather than their Italian opponents on Sunday had negotiations gone more smoothly two months ago.
Chelsea were offered the opportunity to sign Maignan via intermediaries during the special transfer window before the Club World Cup. While insisting they were happy with Robert Sanchez, 27, and his 23-year-old deputy Filip Jorgensen, they did not dismiss the idea of doing a deal.
But Milan wanted £21million whereas Chelsea’s metrics and common sense told them Maignan was worth £12.7m.
He had long been on their radar. In 2023, they were tracking him at the same time as Andre Onana at Inter Milan and Sanchez at Brighton. But that historical interest did not blind them to the fact that Maignan only had a year on his contract. The gap in valuations was too great and so after five days, talks were shelved.
Chelsea are currently set to go into the new season with the same goalkeepers
Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen (pictured) will hope to be Enzo Maresca’s No 1
But Mike Maignan could show the Blues what they could have won at Stamford Bridge
It was speculated that they could return before the close of the summer window if Milan showed a willingness to budge on their asking price. Maignan will also be available on a free transfer next summer if he continues to refuse to sign an extension.
For now, though, Chelsea are heading into 2025-26 and their final pre-season friendly with Sanchez and Jorgensen, the same goalkeeper set-up they had last campaign.
They have sold Djordje Petrovic to Bournemouth for £25m, Kepa Arrizabalaga to Arsenal for £5m, Marcus Bettinelli to Manchester City for even less, and loaned Mike Penders, highly rated at 20 years old, to their sister club Strasbourg in France.
They are the outgoings. Incomings-wise, other positions have been prioritised.
When Chelsea signed Jorrel Hato for £37m from Ajax last week, a statistic was circulated showing how he was their 49th signing since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over the club in May 2022. You would have to go back to Nacer Chadli in 2013 to find Tottenham’s equivalent signing, Ander Herrera in 2014 for Manchester United, and so on.
In that time, Chelsea have brought in a handful of goalkeepers such as Sanchez, Jorgensen, Petrovic, Penders and Gabriel Slonina, 21. This summer, they have continued to strengthen every other area of their team except in goal. The obvious question is: will they live to regret that?
It is inevitable that at some stage this season, Chelsea’s summer approach will be scrutinised if they stick with Sanchez in goal. He will make a mistake because all goalkeepers do, particularly those who play for teams determined to pass from the back.
Distribution has long been Sanchez’s weakness and with any error will come a meltdown on social media after the historical heat on the Spaniard.
Sanchez impressed at the Club World Cup but distribution has long been his weakness
Maresca missed out on Maignan after the Blues refused to meet AC Milan’s asking price
Chelsea had insisted they were happy with Sanchez and his deputy, Jorgensen
That is despite Sanchez improving as last season progressed. Indeed, Chelsea believe were it not for him, they might never have made it into the Champions League, and that is difficult to deny. Some of his saves were crucial as they finished fourth in the Premier League and were then crowned world champions over the summer.
There was one save in particular to deny Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele from close range in the Club World Cup final which showed what a world-class stopper Sanchez can be. He ended up winning the Golden Glove, having finished with the best save percentage of any goalkeeper at the tournament at 81.5 per cent.
Manager Enzo Maresca is busy enough trying to tackle a 13-day pre-season without getting overly involved in transfers.
He only learned that Chelsea had sold Lesley Ugochukwu to Burnley for up to £25m on Wednesday when a member of his communications team mentioned it before Thursday’s press conference. That was teeing up their 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Friday, in which Jorgensen played the full 90 minutes, with Sanchez expected to have his turn against Milan.
Maresca can use his media opportunities to tell the world what he wants – after Leverkusen he told us that he needed a new centre back following Levi Colwill’s ACL injury – but he is more of a manager who waits to see what signings are secured after giving his two cents.
As it stands, he will have Sanchez and Jorgensen to choose from, but at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Maignan might get to show Chelsea what they could have had two months ago.
