Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca has revealed that Robert Sanchez is the club’s number one goalkeeper ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Sanchez was criticised last season following a series of error-prone performances, which made him lose his place for a few games before he was reinstated into the team.
He committed the most errors leading to goals in the Premier League with five in the 2024-25 season.
Chelsea approached AC Milan to sign Mike Maignan before the start of the World Club Cup before the Italian giants rejected their bid.
Maresca has now reiterated once again that Sanchez remains the club’s number one goalkeeper ahead of their World Club Cup campaign.
He said: “Robert Sanchez is No 1 and then Filip Jorgensen is No 2. Mike Penders has joined us. Then we will take a final decision.”
Maresca also confirmed that Chelsea are looking at the opportunity to sign a left winger after Jadon Sancho’s return to Manchester United.
He said: “New winger? Something will happen for sure. Jadon Sancho has left so we only have three proper wingers now.”
The Italian manager has urged the players to give their all to ensure an historic end to the FIFA World Club Cup after they enjoyed a successful season.
The Blues qualified for the Champions League, and also emerged as the Europa Conference League champions.
Maresca said: “We had a few days off [after the Conference League final] and some new players have arrived, so when we saw each other three or four days ago at Cobham, the feeling was a little bit like when you return for pre-season,’ said Maresca.
“But the first thing I said, and the main message since we returned, is that we are not here for pre-season, it’s a big, big tournament.
“We achieved something important by finishing in the top four in the Premier League, and we won the European competition we were in. But now that is done, finished, and we have to focus on the competition we are in now.
Chelsea have been paired in Group D alongside Flamengo, and Tunisian side ES Tunis, and Los Angeles FC.
He said: “We had one competition this season, the Conference League, and the most difficult thing was convincing the players that it was the game of the season for our opponents, so if you don’t prepare in the right way, you can be in trouble.
“And no matter who the other team is, when you are a Chelsea player or head coach, you need to win games.
The Blues have added the likes of Liam Delap, Andrey Santos, Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr, and Mike Penders to their squad for the competition.
Maresca has backed Delap to become a first-choice striker for England in the future after joining Chelsea from Ipswich in a £30m deal.
He said: Maresca said: “I said Liam can be England’s number nine when we faced Ipswich.
“Now he is a Chelsea player, I’m going to say again, I don’t have any doubt that he can be in the future England number nine.
“We won with Manchester City’s Under-23s – he scored 24, 25 goals that season – so he knows exactly what we can give him, I know what Liam can give us. It’s a win-win. We like Liam, Liam likes us, so it was an easy conversation.”
Chelsea qualified for the World Club Cup by virtue of winning the 2021 edition of the Champions League.
