According to The Athletic, Chelsea have made an offer to sign Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
The London giants currently have Kepa Arrizabalaga as their first-choice goalkeeper, but there is barely competition behind him. Marcus Bettinelli has not travelled for the pre-season tour of the United States with an injury. Gabriel Slonina, Lucas Bergstrom, Eddie Beach and Jamie Cumming are in the squad, but they are all inexperienced.
There are no surprises that Chelsea are looking for a new shot-stopper and The Athletic report that the club have approached to sign Sanchez. The Spaniard was dropped by Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi during the back end of last season. He preferred Jason Steele in goal due to his superior ability to play out from the back.
The South Coast club have since signed a young goalkeeper in Bart Verbruggen from Anderlecht. Sanchez is now the third-choice goalkeeper in the Brighton ranks. Despite this, Chelsea appear interested in signing him. The Athletic claim that Brighton are yet to respond to their transfer proposal for the Spanish goalkeeper.
Good deal
Arrizabalaga became Chelsea’s number one during the second half of last season ahead of Edouard Mendy. The Spaniard was good with his distribution but made errors in judgement with his goalkeeping. He conceded multiple long-range goals while he also looked hesitant to come off his line to cut down crosses.
Blues manager Mauricio Pochettino has spoken highly about Arrizabalaga in pre-season, but in the back of his mind, he may want the assurance of another Premier League-proven goalkeeper in the squad. Bettinelli played for Fulham in the past, but he was limited to just seven appearances in the English top-flight.
In comparison, Sanchez has vast experience in the division. The 25-year-old has 87 appearances to his name and not long ago, he was described as one of the best goalkeepers in the league. A new club could bring a change in his fortunes. Sanchez has a good chance of displacing Arrizabalaga to become the number one.
