Chelsea are close to reaching a deal with Genk worth €20m for 18-year-old goalkeeper Mike Penders according to reports.
The Blues have been busy this summer and have already made seven new signings, whilst keeper Filip Jorgensen and teenager Aaron Anselmino are on the verge of completing their moves to Stamford Bridge.
The west London club are currently on their pre-season tour of America, and having endured a difficult first two games Enzo Maresca will be looking for improvements against Club America and Manchester City this week.
With a deal for Jorgensen agreed and the Dane just needing to sign his contract, the last thing anyone would have expected is for Chelsea to sign another shot stopper this summer.
However, that’s exactly the case and journalist Sacha Tavolieri has reported the Blues are close to agreeing a deal with Genk for Penders, which would see him loaned back to the Belgian side for the remainder of the season.
He took to X.com and said:
“#ChelseaFC close to agree a deal with #KRCGenk for Mike Penders!
“Blues are offering more than 20M€ package with a percentage on the future resale, Genk now working on details to make the deal happen after getting an agreement in principle with BlueCo side.
“Penders would be loaned directly this season to the Genkies. Long term contract on the table.”
??? #ChelseaFC close to agree a deal with #KRCGenk for Mike Penders !
? Blues are offering more than 20M€ package with a percentage on the future resale. Genk now working on details to make the deal happen after getting an agreement in principle with BlueCo side.
— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) July 30, 2024
If the deal goes through it would see Penders become the most expensive goalkeeper ever from Belgium surpassing Bart Verbruggen’s move from Anderlecht to Brighton.
The teenager has only played one game at the highest level, where he kept a clean sheet against Standard and is clearly viewed as one for the future by the club.
What makes this strange is that Chelsea have already signed a young keeper for the future in Gabriel Slonina, and with the arrival of Jorgensen it means they would have signed four keepers in the last five windows with Penders taking the total to five.
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