I think the biggest thing that we all complained about during the last couple of seasons is goalkeepers. Striker is a close second, but we all clearly saw, and still see, that if Chelsea want to elevate then they need to sign a top goalkeeper and upgrade what they have. Every top team needs a world class goalkeeper in the net, it literally seeps confidence through the rest of the team, the opposite of what Robert Sanchez does.
There are some arguments about Djordje Petrovic being good enough, sure. But I think he’s going anyway so we might as well not even consider that as an option.
To provide the ultimate balance to a youth-led squad build, you need to make sure you have a strong spine, and the spine starts at goalkeeper. This is THE most important position.
I don’t care that Robert Sanchez had a slightly better end to the season (his distribution was still poor by the way), he’s never going to be good enough to be Chelsea number one. He brain farts TOO much, he’s not good enough.
So when you have a chance to sign a world class goalkeeper with quality experience, one who wears the captains armband and brings leadership and has been there and seen it all, for just £20m (fee reported by Ben Jacobs yesterday), this is one situation where you just pay and don’t speak, especially when he isn’t someone demanding high wages. It’s an absolute no brainer in my opinion.
You see anger yesterday and I get it – it’s fully warranted on this occasion. I also understand those who are saying that Chelsea need to be strong in negotiations and cannot keep having their pants pulled down. I completely understand that. But in this instance, it is one where you don’t need to worry about that at all and just pay the £20m-£25m to sign him. Not one single person involved in football or anyone with any knowledge at all, is going to say ‘wow, Chelsea well and truly had their pants pulled down signing Maignan for £25m’ are they? Let’s be real here. In fact, they are going to say ‘wow, Chelsea got Maignan for £25m? That’s an incredible deal’ – because it is. Not one person can convince me otherwise. When that first rumoured fee came out that this is all it would take to sign him, I literally saw fans of other clubs telling their team to go for Maignan because he was so cheap. I saw Chelsea fans in disbelief that we can land Maignan for £25m-ish.
A small section of fans might have some concerns because Maignan isn’t off the back of his best ever season, but for £25m you are not risking much at all and besides, this is a guy with a super strong mentality, he’s not another Kalidou Koulibaly, he’s a warrior. He’s not another confidence player.
He’s an upgrade on what we have, and he will elevate. This is exactly what Chelsea need and I can completely understand why fans would be angry if we didn’t sign him for around £25m.
He’s also setting up a future at Chelsea for Mike Penders, who we keep hearing how much he is rated at the club. Maignan doesn’t block anyone coming through. If it doesn’t work, you have the four goalkeepers you are apparently ‘happy’ with (they’re not btw) to fall back on so it’s a win win, no? You have Penders to fall back on, no? Literally there is nothing to lose.
If we can get him for £15m then amazing, even better, I will fully applaud that. But if we lose him simply because we don’t want to look ‘weak’ in negotiations, then that for me is ridiculous. If our ‘negotiating’ ends up getting him for £15m then honestly, I will hold my hands up and say fair play to them all for getting that done.
I said days ago that I’m prepared to wait everything out and make a conclusion when I see what business we actually do, so I am still going to do that. This isn’t some rant article, this is a nudge towards the decision makers to do the right thing here. I’m happy to wait and see. Maybe their negotiation tactics here fully pay off and if they do, I will absolutely applaud them for it as said above.
But for me, you simply cannot lose out on an opportunity to sign what I see as a world class goalkeeper still (who is not even old for a goalkeeper and in fact, he’s still young) for just £25m. How many more opportunities will we get to sign an experienced stopper who is a leader, for that price? I’ll tell you, ZERO.
For context, we paid £25 for Sanchez, Brighton’s THIRD choice goalkeeper at the time. We paid £30m for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, a deep backup player. We paid £43m for Joao Felix, I needn’t say anything on that. Yet NOW we’re apparently worried about having our pants pulled down!!? I cannot fathom it. Maignan for the SAME price we paid for Sanchez? COME ON man.
The final reason for getting Maignan is because Enzo Maresca WANTS him and sees him as a good fit for his football. Are we backing the manager or no? Are we fully behind him? If we are, then bring him what he wants, especially the due to the fact that I know the new ownership have wanted Maignan for the last THREE years!!
Pay and don’t speak. Low wages, low fee. What are we doing!??
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