An update has emerged on Chelsea and their plans to bolster their goalkeeping department in the summer transfer window.
What's the latest on Mike Maignan to Chelsea?
According to L'Equipe, the Premier League side are interested in a deal to sign AC Milan shot-stopper Mike Maignan ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
The report claims that the Blues are pursuing a swoop for the France international and have already initiated contact with the Serie A giants to discuss a deal.
It states that the Italian outfit will not make it easy for a transfer to be completed, though, as they recently attempted to tie the 27-year-old down to a new contract to secure his future in Milan.
Would Mike Maignan be a good signing for Chelsea?
Mauricio Pochettino could finally find the club's replacement for Thibaut Courtois by striking a deal to sign the £59k-per-week ace, who would be an excellent addition to the squad this summer.
The current Real Madrid number one left the Blues in 2018 and has saved the Spanish giants an impressive 17.7 goals, based on the post-shot xG in LaLiga, underlining him as one of the best in the game.
That came following a spell where he won two Premier League titles during his time in England.
In five seasons at Stamford Bridge, Kepa Arrizabalaga has conceded 7.6 more goals than expected in the Premier League, which means that he has underperformed between the sticks over half a decade and let his defence down too often in recent years.
Senegal international Edouard Mendy, meanwhile, has let in 5.8 more goals than expected based on the same metric in the top-flight over three years with Chelsea.
These statistics suggest that the club have failed to adequately replace the excellent Courtois, who is a net positive rather than negative with his shot-stopping, and Maignan could finally solve this problem.
The Frenchman has saved 3.6 more goals than expected in his two Serie A campaigns with Milan and prevented an eye-catching 14.8 xG in his final three years with Lille in his home country, which shows that he is similar to the Belgian in that the giant pulls off miracles in goal to keep the ball out.
Maignan, who was hailed as a "monster" by GOAL's Robin Brainer, has stopped 18.4 more goals than the average goalkeeper would be expected to over the last five seasons, a truly astonishing record.
That means that the Frenchman has saved 26 more strikes from hitting the back of his net over the last five years in comparison to Kepa, indicating that the 27-year-old would be a significant improvement on the Spaniard.
The Milan star is able to bail out his defence on a consistent basis with his ability to stop shots that the average goalkeeper would be expected to see sail past them, whereas the current Chelsea number one has underperformed in that respect.
As such, Pochettino could finally find a worthy replacement for Courtois by working hard to convince the Serie A side to part ways with the colossus this summer.
