Former Arsenal striker and pundit Alan Smith believes that Chelsea need to replace Robert Sanchez with a new goalkeeper to contend for the 2026-27 Premier League title. The Blues have heavily bolstered their squad this summer, signing the likes of Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix, Danny Welbeck, and Jordan Henderson.
The Blues signed Sanchez as their starting goalkeeper from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of £20 million. The 28-year-old has kept 33 clean sheets in 111 appearances across all competitions since then, helping the West London outfit win two trophies.
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However, Sanchez has also been extremely shaky in goal over the past three seasons, making numerous errors that have led to goals. As a result, Smith believes Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea cannot contend for the title with the Spaniard in goal.
Smith told METRO:
“He’s needed upgrading for a while, and it’s been a bit of a glaring shortfall in their lineup. They’ve made efforts to strengthen the defence with Maxence Lacroix and a couple of younger defenders he’s brought in as full-backs.”
He added:
“But the keeper, if you want to challenge for the title, Sanchez isn’t the man, I don’t think. They’ve spent a lot of money, haven’t they, Chelsea? Whether they’ve got any room to spend some more on a keeper, I don’t know, but Sanchez at the moment seems to be the number one.”
While Sanchez is expected to remain the Blues’ starting goalkeeper this season, they will also have Mike Penders and academy graduate Teddy Sharman-Lowe as backup options.
“It was a very good last preparation game” – Xabi Alonso provides verdict after Chelsea defeat Real Sociedad in pre-season friendly
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso has expressed his satisfaction after his side defeated Real Sociedad 3-1 in their final pre-season friendly of the summer on August 15. The Blues will next face Fulham in the Premier League on August 24.
Following the game, Alonso told Chelsea’s official website:
“It was a very good last preparation game. For some players it was the first one and the last one. For us, there were some good things, some things we can improve. It’s normal at this moment for some players. It was great to have all the team together. Some of them after three days could play for 60 minutes. It was the last test. Now we have a whole week to prepare for Fulham, but it was a good feeling in the stadium.”
Chelsea looked impressive against Real Sociedad, with summer signing Morgan Rogers opening the scoring in the ninth minute. Jon Aramburu leveled the score heading into the break (45′), but Joao Pedro netted a second-half brace (47′, 77′) to ensure his side secured the win.
Edited by Silas Sud
