'Similar to Courtois' - could Penders become Chelsea number one?
Mike Penders was part of Chelsea’s Club World Cup-winning squad, but didn’t play in the United States
Chelsea’s newest goalkeeping prospect, Mike Penders, comes from the same production line that produced the legendary Thibaut Courtois.
Like Courtois, Chelsea signed Penders from Belgian top-flight club Genk as a teenager.
A deal for the then-19-year-old was agreed in 2024 and he officially joined the following summer, before spending a season on loan with Strasbourg.
Genk’s goalkeeper coach at the time, Gilbert Roex, told BBC Sport “we thought it was crazy” that Chelsea paid £17m for Penders, who had not yet played for their first team.
However, Roex also praised Chelsea for scouting his youth appearances, influenced by head of goalkeeping Ben Roberts, adding: “He was still playing for Jong Genk in the second division when Chelsea’s scouts became convinced.
“It was similar to Courtois. He had only spent one season in the first team when he won the title and was still only 18. Maybe Chelsea’s video scouts have identified a player who could be worth much more in the future.”
Indeed, this summer Penders trained with the long-time Belgium number one at the World Cup and those close to Courtois told BBC Sport that the 115-cap goalkeeper was very impressed with his understudy as both a player and a person.
For now, Chelsea’s plan is to keep Robert Sanchez as their number one option while under serious competition from Penders.
It’s a similar dynamic that played out when Filip Jorgensen challenged the Spain international, but he has not been able to unseat him as a regular starter despite spells in the first team and is now seeking his exit.
Penders is effectively drafted in to replace Jorgensen with a third option also being sought either internally or in the transfer market, as one-time United States international Gabriel Slonina trials with partner club Strasbourg.
It’s Strasbourg where Penders made a name for himself on loan and leaves a gap for the French club - under the same American ownership as Chelsea - to fill.
At Genk, Penders made 26 appearances in his final season knowing he would join Chelsea, where he featured as an unused substitute at the Club World Cup, before joining Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
There he played almost every game during a demanding 52-match season that included runs to the semi-finals of both the Coupe de France and the Conference League.
It was there that Penders stood out under former Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior, who employed an extreme tactical approach before later joining Chelsea.
Among goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues, no one had a higher average position from goal, underlining Penders’ importance in Strasbourg’s build-up play and how frequently he operated outside his penalty area.
The approach produced some impressive football but also, on occasion, some high-profile mistakes.
It’s remarkable that Penders has become a specialist with his feet given it used to be his weakness.
When Genk first scouted Penders from Sint-Jan Berchmans College, alongside his games for grassroots club Bregel Sport, his ability on the ball was his Achilles’ heel.
“One of the teachers recommended him to me,” Roex, who recently left Genk, added. “When I saw him, he had a great profile, he played well and he had a great mentality. But technically, he needed a lot of work.
“At that time, his feet were terrible because he was so tall. But he passed the trial for our under-14s when he was 13.”
Roex says he has “never seen a player improve so quickly between the ages of 13 and 18” because of Penders’ “unbelievable mentality” and his “inability to feel pressure” - qualities he insists remain evident today.
He added: “In the beginning he struggled a lot, but he worked very hard. We did footwork for at least 20 minutes in every session with our goalkeepers.
“He reads the game very well, which is essential because playing out from the back is not just about technique, but decision-making - understanding space, pressure and timing.”
Nearly 20 years after helping develop the 6ft 7in Courtois along with fellow Genk goalkeeping coach Guy Martens, Roex said that Penders - who is the same height as Courtois - bears similarities to the former Chelsea goalkeeper, now a Real Madrid and Belgium great.
“Guy and I shared the same vision,” Roex explained. “We believed football was changing and that goalkeepers needed to be comfortable with their feet. We implemented that philosophy throughout the academy, although there was initially some resistance from coaches.
“Part of our vision came from Ajax and Johan Cruyff’s goalkeeping coach, Frans Hoek. He was a visionary who later worked with Barcelona and the Dutch national team.
“We were also early adopters of filming goalkeeping sessions, using tapes and simple editing software. We wanted to expose goalkeepers as young as 16 to the first-team environment.
“We produced Courtois and Penders, but also Koen Casteels, Martin van der Voordt at RB Leipzig, Kiaba Brughmans and Nordin Jackers, who is now at Club Brugge.”
Roex believes Penders’ calm demeanour comes from his close, stable family unit and having grown up in the small village of Maasmechelen just outside of Genk.
“We have produced a lot of great goalkeepers, but Mike is the one with the potential to reach the same level as Thibaut, his sense of calmness is gold in goalkeeping.”
