Enzo Maresca has one less Chelsea transfer decision to make after Club World Cup

Going into the Club World Cup, no one really knew who would be Chelsea's No.1 goalkeeper during the tournament.

At the start of June, the Blues held talks with AC Milan about potentially signing Mike Maignan and had been prepared to offer £13million for the 30-year-old, who has just one more year left on his current deal. Milan wanted more than £20million, however, and an agreement was not found.

Instead, Chelseatook Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen, Mike Penders and Gabriel Slonina to the United States. Djordje Petrovic was allowed extra time off after a successful loan at Strasbourg to sort out his future and looks set to join Bournemouth, with the Cherries agreeing to pay the Blues £25million for the goalkeeper's services. Goalkeepers Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli have already departed this summer.

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Sanchez, we now know, remainsEnzo Maresca's No.1 and started six of Chelsea's seven matches at the Club World Cup. He was afforded a rest against Esperance in the last group game, with Jorgensen starting in the Spaniard's place.

Sanchez, who signed from Brighton in August 2023 for a £25million fee, conceded just three goals while out in the US and proved many doubters wrong with his impressive performances. In fact, the 27-year-old received the Golden Glove award for his showings in America and perhaps left his best performance for the final as he made a number of decent stops to keep PSG out and ensure his side came out 3-0 winners.

"The saves for me, they weren’t crazy hard, but they were difficult because the pitch was very sticky," Sanchez said after the game."So they become more difficult because of that. There was a save from [Ousmane]Dembele, a shot from [Bradley] Barcola, a couple of saves in the first half. It was a clean game; I’m very happy with it.

"We are always going to be underestimated, but we know our quality and how good we are. We knew they had quality, but we knew we had more. And if we matched their pace and intensity, we felt we would win the game. That’s what we did."

Sanchez had been linked with an exit from Chelsea ahead of the Club World Cup, but with Petrovic being allowed to leave, the former Brighton man could well go into the 2025/26 season as the club's No.1 once more. For some that would have been hard to believe at the start of June amid those links to Maignan.

In truth, though, Sanchez's form has improved dramatically in the past few months and he was a huge reason why Chelsea finished the season strongly. Sanchez has lifted both the Conference League and Club World Cup over the last two months and helped Chelsea finish fourth in the Premier League, thus ensuring Champions League qualification for next year.

This may now mean that Chelsea go into the upcoming season with Sanchez as their first choice goalkeeper. Jorgensen and Slonina will likely be the back-ups, while Penders could well go out on loan, with a move to Strasbourg a strong possibility.

With one year of playing for Maresca under his belt, Sanchez looks set to be given another opportunity, which would save Chelsea having to fork out millions on yet another replacement. The goalkeeper's performances over the last few months have been a blessing in disguise for not only Maresca, but also the club's transfer chiefs.