Chelsea January transfer priority to help Enzo Maresca clear despite £86.5m Todd Boehly spend

Enzo Maresca will not let you think it, but Robert Sanchez is the weak spot within a very strong Chelsea team.

Not a perfect Chelsea team, by any means, but one that is very promising and is showing signs that they will be able to compete for the very top trophies. However, their goalkeeper, Sanchez, has come under fire this season - and deservedly so.

The Spaniard's distribution has not been good enough; a vital cog in the Maresca machine. The head coach has taken responsibility for the mistakes he makes when trying to play out from the back.

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"In the end, that is football. I am the guy who asks Robert to do that," Maresca said last month. "And Robert is going to do that. In the moment he stops to do that, he is not going to play.

"If Robert makes a mistake, it's not Robert's problem, it's my mistake because I asked that from Robert. I am very happy with Robert and the way he is playing, building from the back."

Nonetheless, it is not sustainable to have a goalkeeper that is struggling in such an important element of a possession-based style of play. Sanchez has also been too hesitant in goal. See Curtis Jones' winning goal at Anfield, for instance, where the Spain goalkeeper did not close the midfielder down enough despite a touch from the Liverpool man that perhaps could have been pounced on.

Gabriel Martinelli's goal on Sunday, in Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge; it needs to be better from Sanchez. Martinelli did well to open up his body, almost disguising where he ended up placing the ball. Either way, though, Sanchez leaves far too big of a gap at his near post - where the ball eventually went.

The bigger picture

Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club in May 2022, Chelsea have signed five goalkeepers in total. Sanchez being one of them, alongside Mike Penders, Filip Jorgensen, Djordje Petrovic and Gabriel Slonina. The transfer fees combined comes to £86.5million.

Along with Sanchez, Jorgensen is the only one within the first-team squad at this moment in time. The Denmark Under-21s international, signed for around £20m from Villarreal in the summer, is currently playing second fiddle to Sanchez - featuring in all of the cup matches thus far this season.

Meanwhile, Slonina and Petrovic are both out on loan at Barnsley and Strasbourg, respectively. football.london was told last year that Slonina remains very highly-rated with club officials at Stamford Bridge, although there does not appear to be any immediate plan for him to return and compete for the No.1 spot in SW6.

Petrovic had a go last season under Mauricio Pochettino and despite a few strong performances from the Serbian, Maresca did not fancy him and opted with Sanchez instead. Penders, signed from Genk in August, will remain with the Belgian club until the summer of 2025. The Belgian teenager, though, will still be just 19-years-old when he joins Chelsea officially next summer.