Filip Jorgensen to Chelsea transfer: Maresca lands ideal goalkeeper in Blues rebuild | OneFootball

Chelsea have agreed in principle to sign Villarreal goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.

The 22-year-old is scheduled for a medical after a £20.7m fee had been agreed upon and is expected to sign a seven-year contract until 2031.

The Denmark Under-21 international was a prime target for new Blues head coach Enzo Maresca, who sought another goalkeeper capable of playing out from the back.

Jorgensen will compete to become the club’s number-one goalkeeper and is expected to join Chelsea for their US tour. However, his arrival casts doubt on Đorđe Petrović’s future, as the Serbian goalkeeper filled in for the injured Robert Sánchez last season as the first choice.

Sánchez discussed facing increased competition after starting in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Wrexham in their first preseason match.

“You never know, but at the moment I am training hard,” said the former Brighton shot-stopper. “Another goalkeeper? I know what I can bring to the team, what I can do and I am positive in myself.”

As mentioned, Maresca, a disciple of Pep Guardiola, seeks a ball-playing goalkeeper (or sweeper-keeper) — someone composed on the ball, accurate with their distribution, and adept at sweeping up long passes from the opposition. After joining Leicester, following a spell as Guardiola’s right-hand man at Manchester City last summer, the Foxes signed Mads Hermansen from Brøndby as Maresca’s first-choice ‘keeper.

“Mads is the keeper I want, the one I wanted from day one,” he said. “I don’t see any risk. I only see the opportunity to play with the ’keeper.

“If we go back to the ‘keeper it is because the intention is to attack better. We try to play with the ‘keeper to draw the opponent so we have more space in behind to play. We play with the ‘keeper to have more space forward.”

He subsequently had the fourth-lowest average pass length among goalkeepers in the Championship during the 2023/24 campaign. He had a launch rate – passes that travel over 40 yards – of just 17.8%, the second-lowest figure in the division. He also ranked second in sweeper actions.

Jorgensen, who is eligible to represent Denmark and Sweden at the senior international level, seemingly fits the bill. He completed 875 passes in La Liga last season, the third-most of any goalkeeper in Spain’s top division. He had 1,528 touches, also the third-most among La Liga goalkeepers, and completed 77.99% of his passes.

His passes attempted and completed per 90 minutes were lower than both Sánchez and Petrovic managed in the Premier League last season. His passing accuracy was second of the three, bettered by Sánchez.

Jorgensen, who moved to Spain at 11, has been with Villarreal since the summer of 2015. He played in 36 of their 38 league games last season, during which he kept six clean sheets and made 143 saves — more than any other goalkeeper in the division. He caught 29 crosses and made 16 punched clearances. However, Chelsea are not signing him for his shot-stopping, which is simply a bonus in the eyes of Maresca.