Why do Chelsea want to sign AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan? | OneFootball

Chelsea have been busy in the transfer market and after nearing completion on a deal to sign Liam Delap, they have now turned their attention to AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

But why do they want to sign the Frenchman and what can he offer them?

Chelsea have had issues in the goalkeeping department for nearing seven years, since Thibaut Courtois left the club.

It looked for a time as though Edouard Mendy was the answer. The Senegalese shot-stopper was the best goalkeeper in the world in 2021 after the Blues won the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup, and he picked up the individual accolades to prove it.

During the 2020/21 season he won awards for the Best FIFA men’s goalkeeper, UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season and Africa Cup of Nations Best Goalkeeper.

In the following two years, however, his form took a turn for the worst and he was shortly shipped off to Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli in June 2023.

Since then Chelsea have tried numerous fixes, with Robert Sanchez, Djordje Petrovic and Filip Jorgensen all holding the title of number one at various times. At one point prior to the start of last season, the west Londoners had seven goalkeepers contracted.

No one has taken their chance though, and the situation now is that none of the options are fully trusted.

Maignan has been one of the best goalkeepers in the world for the past four years, and at 29, with one-year left on his deal with Milan, the opportunity to go in for him cannot be missed.

The Italian giants have reportedly quoted a fee of at least £25 million, a step fee for someone with just one-year left on their contract, but the opportunity to sign a ready made top class goalkeeper might be something too good to refuse.

Maignan can adeptly play out from the back, something that Chelsea’s keepers all struggle with, and which is a key asset for the man between the sticks in Enzo Maresca’s system.

His pass accuracy has been over or around 80% for the majority of his career and a skill he possesses that often goes unnoticed is his ability to start counter-attacks by playing very precise long balls.

One of his clear flaws, however, is that he has missed 265 days through injury since the beginning of the 2021/22 season, amounting to 54 games missed. This is an abnormal amount of injuries for a goalkeeper to sustain, and Chelsea will definitely be keeping an eye on that.

But overall, the Frenchman remains a good prospect in the market and one that Chelsea will not want to miss out on.