Chelsea identify 26-year-old goalkeeper to provide cover and competition for Robert Sanchez – Reports

Chelsea have reportedly earmarked Athletic Bilbao star Unai Simon as a potential competition for summer signing Robert Sanchez in goal.

The Blues, who have spent over £1 billion since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, decided to part ways with two goalkeepers earlier this summer. They sold Edouard Mendy to Al-Ahli for around £16 million and loaned Kepa Arrizabalaga out to Real Madrid earlier in August.

To fill the void, Chelsea lured Sanchez away from Brighton & Hove Albion for a fee of £25 million. They also opted to sign Djordje Petrovic in a £14 million switch from New England Revolution in the summer.

However, Sanchez has received a lot of scrutiny for his error-prone playing of late. He committed a mistake for Declan Rice's goal in a 2-2 stalemate against Arsenal and also left his own goal wide open in the latter stages of his team's 2-0 defeat to Brentford earlier last week.

Therefore, according to Spanish news outlet Todofichajes, Mauricio Pochettino's outfit are hoping to sign Simon in the upcoming winter transfer window. They have been impressed with the 26-year-old Spaniard's fine outings for his boyhood team in the ongoing 2023-24 season.

Simon, whose current deal is set to expire in June 2025, is apparently interested in joining a club of big stature like Chelsea. He is currently in stellar form, registering five clean sheets in 11 games this season.

Chelsea will win the league title in the next couple of seasons, says talkSPORT pundit

Speaking on talkSPORT, ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan shared his two cents on the Blues' current situation. He elaborated:

"This is one of the downsides of people having a lot of money, theirs or someone else's, and not having a lot of footballing intelligence and paying way too much for players. But there is no doubt about it, Chelsea will get there. It is about how quickly they get there and whether Pochettino is going to take them."

Backing the Blues to lift the Premier League title soon, Jordan also said:

"I have never felt Pochettino will win them the Premier League. I thought he would get them to a point where they operate in the top four. But that is not their blueprint. Right now, even that argument looks unsustainable. But the bottom line in that Chelsea will win the Premier League in the next two or three years."

Mauricio Pochettino's side, who finished 12th in the Premier League last campaign with just 44 points, are languishing at 11th this season. They are on 12 points from 10 games, 14 off the top in the league table.

The Stamford Bridge side are set to welcome Blackburn Rovers in their next clash in the 2023-24 EFL Cup this Wednesday (November 1).