Chelsea are on the hunt for a goalkeeper this summer after selling Edouard Mendy to Al-Ahli SFC, and Andy Naylor of The Athletic says they’re considering Robert Sanchez as his replacement.
The 25-year-old joined Brighton & Hove Albion from Levante in 2013 and has gone on to make 90 appearances in all competitions, conceding 102 goals with 29 clean sheets. He has an uncertain future at the Amex Stadium, however.
Sanchez form spiralled
Sanchez was a regular in the first half of last season, starting 22/22 Premier League games between August and February, before losing his place due to poor form. The Spanish international dropped to the bench for the last three months of the campaign as Jason Steele was preferred between the sticks.
Naylor says he doesn’t have the best relationship with manager Roberto De Zerbi after refusing to sit on the bench after being dropped, so he might be granted a departure. David Kent of Mail Online said earlier in July that Brighton would accept a bid of £30m, so Sanchez won’t break the bank.
All depends on whether Chelsea would pay that much for a second-choice goalkeeper, however, as Kepa Arrizabalaga isn’t going anywhere. The 28-year-old was a regular last season, hence why Mendy was sold, so Sanchez would have to be content with a subsidiary role.
The Spaniard was 17th in the Premier League for saves (64.8% of shots on target faced) and kept the same amount of clean sheets (6) in 23 games that Steele did in 15 (6), so his stock has gone down somewhat.
Sanchez was previously regarded as one of the best stoppers in the league, but even Brighton are happy to let him go after signing Bart Verbruggen from Anderlecht.
It just remains to be seen whether Sanchez would willingly sit on the bench at Stamford Bridge after growing frustrated with a lack of playing time at Brighton. He’s surely too young and too useful to sit on the bench every week.
