Chelsea should bring in a keeper from the Championship

Chelsea still has time to fill a hole at the keeper position as the Edouard Mendy injury puts the club back to the future with unreliable backups.

The injury to newly signed goalkeeper Edouard Mendy demonstrates Chelsea’s precarious position with no reliable substitutes on the bench to relieve the Senegalese star when injured or in cup games. The Blues, with Mendy likely on the shelf just for the Southampton match Saturday, are right back where they were before they made the solid move to secure his services. They once again have to rely upon Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero in goal.

That’s a less than optimal situation as the Blues have learned, much to the club’s dismay over the past year or so. Neither is good enough for a club seeking to compete for high honors. Yet, there is still time to make moves and dip into the Championship for players. That opportunity exists until October 16 and one player who would be a solid addition, is Said Benrahma. Unfortunately, the dynamic winger from Brentford looks to be on his way to West Ham, but adding a solid back-up keeper would be a great bit of business in this unique circumstance.

While Champions League squads have already been registered, players brought in by Friday, October 16 will be eligible for the Premier League and presumably other domestic competitions. Chelsea should strongly consider a move now to provide a top back-up, should Mendy’s injury be serious or he gets injured again. Whatever the investment, the move should be made due to the unthinkable circumstances otherwise. The thought of the Blues having to use their other current keepers, should Mendy have a lengthy absence or be injured again, is too painful to contemplate.

So, who might be available for the Blues? There are a few Championship keepers who are possibilities to move up. They are Stoke City’s Jack Butland, Daniel Bentley of Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday’s Keiren Westwood. The top choice would be one of England’s keepers, Jack Butland of Stoke.

Still young at 27, Butland would be a terrific signing capable of competing for the top spot himself and providing a back-up who can win at any level. That’s if he were willing to move. Butland would be costly, however, and that would be a sure deterrent to the big-spending Blues this past window. But, depending on how the Blues’ hierarchy views their chances this season, it would be well worth the cost if they could pry him away from Stoke. Loans of excess players on the roster or young player(s) in need of quality experience could hopefully mitigate the cash expense and be an enticement to Stoke or any other Championship side willing to part with their top keeper.

Another possibility would be Bentley of Bristol City. He’s had a great start to the season with only two goals conceded in five games across all competitions and three clean sheets to boot. Bentley’s valuation is a modest $3.08 million and thus, an offer of $5 million plus a loanee might get that deal over the line. It’s worth $10 million if the Blues can get the deal done. Caballero could be sent out to plug the hole for Bristol. Whomever it takes in Chelsea’s keeper stable other than Mendy would be just fine.

The replacement, whomever they choose, would be up to Frank Lampard and his keeper adviser par excellence, Petr Cech. The point to emphatically be made here is this, an injury to Mendy can’t be allowed to devastate the squad and squelch any hopes of its competing in the competitions Chelsea seeks to win this season. Any Mendy injury will leave the club in the same situation it was in before Mendy’s signing; in deep, deep trouble. The extended window has provided a unique opportunity for Chelsea to make a move to strengthen after the major window has closed—the Blues can’t afford to not to take advantage of it.