Goalkeeper · #39
Mike Penders
Belgium · 6'7" · 21
His role
Penders is the cup goalkeeper and the young challenger to Sánchez. His size gives Chelsea enormous reach on crosses and in one-on-ones, while Alonso still asks him to stay calm with the ball and begin attacks from the back.
His story
- 01Record
Belgium's third-youngest top-flight goalkeeper
Genk handed Penders his debut at eighteen years and 363 days, two days before his nineteenth birthday. Only two goalkeepers in the history of Belgium's top division had played younger. By the following January, the teenager had made the position his own.
- 02Drama
Chelsea paid £17m before his senior debut
Chelsea decided Penders was worth £17m before he had played a first-team match for Genk. Gilbert Roex, his goalkeeper coach at the time, said the staff thought the price was crazy. Penders finally made his senior debut only days before the transfer was agreed, then stayed in Belgium for another year.
- 03Off the pitch
He captained the reserves before he played for the first team
Penders arrived at Genk from two small Limburg clubs when he was twelve. Six years later, the club made him captain of its under-23 team before he had even appeared for the senior side. Goalkeepers that young are rarely given the armband, which said as much about his temperament as his talent.
Career
Genk2021–2024
Chelsea2024–
Strasbourg2025
