Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders tipped for elite status before Spurs test

Mike Penders had a special reason for requesting Chelsea’s No. 39 shirt. The number pays tribute to his grandfather and greatest supporter, Nico Smeets, who was born in 1939.

Smeets was given special permission to watch his grandson train at Genk and the other clubs Penders represented during his youth in Belgium. Over a 15-year period, he estimates that he missed fewer than 10 sessions.

The pair even developed a private signal. When Smeets placed both hands flat against the fence, it meant he felt his goalkeeper grandson needed to improve. When he clenched his fists, Penders knew he was performing well and should continue.

The ritual continued after Penders broke into Genk’s first team, making his Belgian Pro League debut at 18. Before kick-off, he would scan the stands for Smeets and look for the raised fist among the supporters — a simple gesture designed to give him confidence.

Now Chelsea fans will hope this 21-year-old Belgian gives them plenty of reason to raise their own fists at full time on Saturday. Tottenham Hotspur are the visitors to Stamford Bridge, where Penders is expected to make his first Premier League start.

Emiliano Martinez is unavailable after undergoing surgery on a fractured jaw, leaving Penders with a demanding introduction to English football. Tottenham come first, followed by Liverpool and then Manchester United. Xabi Alonso needs his second-choice goalkeeper to mature quickly, although everything suggests this is no ordinary understudy.

Inside Chelsea, staff urge patience but speak enthusiastically about Penders’ “huge” potential. One senior source has gone even further, describing his ceiling as “absolutely elite”. Yet mentioning Thibaut Courtois can be a sensitive subject. Some at Chelsea dislike the comparisons, fearing they place unnecessary pressure on ‘Big Mike’.

They acknowledge, however, that the parallels are difficult to avoid. Both goalkeepers are 6ft 7in left-footers with imposing wingspans. Both developed at the renowned Genk academy, which has also produced Kevin De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard and Divock Origi. Both joined Chelsea at 19 and were sent out on loan to gain experience — Courtois spending three seasons at Atletico Madrid and Penders one campaign with sister club Strasbourg.

There are less obvious links, too. Penders uses 560 All Stop gloves, made by Belgian brand REAL and priced at £76. Courtois, now at Real Madrid, bought the same model two weeks ago after previously serving as an ambassador for the company.

Penders’ father, Peter, is also friends with Courtois’ father, Thierry. When the younger goalkeeper struggled to find boots that fitted his unusually large feet, Thierry contacted Nike immediately and arranged for the precise equipment he needed.

The gap between their careers remains vast. Courtois has won two Premier League titles, four La Liga championships and two Champions League trophies, while earning 115 caps for Belgium. At 34, he is regarded as one of his generation’s finest goalkeepers. Penders, by contrast, is only beginning. Since Chelsea agreed a £17 million pre-agreement with Genk two years ago, he has been preparing for this opportunity.

Penders noticed the difference during his first week at Chelsea, when he struggled to hold on to shots in training. The attempts were quicker and more accurate than those he had faced previously. But rather than damaging the confidence of the youngster from Uikhoven, a quiet village in Maasmechelen, the experience gave him extra motivation.

Penders viewed the challenge as evidence that he needed to work harder to reach Premier League standard. He also believed a season on loan at Strasbourg would benefit his development. The level in France was higher than in Belgium and offered a valuable stepping stone towards English football.

In Alsace, Penders continued to develop under Liam Rosenior. His progress was enough to earn selection for Belgium’s 2026 World Cup squad and persuade Alonso’s Chelsea to keep him at the club this summer.

Goalkeepers naturally hate conceding, but Penders is prepared to make one concession: he knows he is not yet the finished article. At 21, the Belgian remains grounded, even as supporters in his homeland have embraced the nickname ‘Magic Mike’.

‘I want to write my own story,’ Penders has said when asked about the comparisons to Courtois.

That story, in the Premier League at least, started off the bench in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Everton, with Martinez carried off on a stretcher. Alonso offered Penders a few words of encouragement on the touchline. Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts, who had a bird’s eye view of the game with a seat in the Hill Dickinson Stadium press box, was communicating with the bench below. Penders received instructions from Roberts’ assistant James Russell and set-piece specialist Austin MacPhee.

But once he was on the pitch with Chelsea leading 1-0, he was on his own. He became the club’s youngest goalkeeper to play in the Premier League, but those close to Penders say he ‘eats’ pressure. One description from an old coach is that he has an ‘unbelievable mentality’. A childhood friend adds that he gets ‘more nervous than Mike does’.

In the 84th minute at Everton, he punched clear a cross at the edge of his box, prompting an away-end eruption. Four minutes later, he dropped a catch from a long throw, a reminder that he is raw. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, he learned referees will not always show sympathy to goalkeepers being wrestled at corners.

By full-time, he had contributed to Chelsea’s first clean sheet in the Premier League since January, having previously only appeared in the Carabao Cup – in a 2-0 win over Luton and 6-3 thumping of Leeds. The first goal he conceded in his Chelsea career came from a corner, while there were other balls into the box from Leeds which caused concern.

It is one way in which Tottenham, who have attempted more crosses than any other Premier League side this season and taken the highest number of corners, are expected to test Penders. Roberto De Zerbi’s team will seek to pounce on any fumble, any parry, any mistake.

Chelsea’s goalkeeping department, led by Roberts, are preparing Penders for that in the build-up to Saturday. His decision-making, positioning and technique will need to be faultless. 

Roberts has known Penders for more than two years now. He used to phone him regularly while he was at Genk and then Strasbourg to evaluate his game.

Chelsea already know about his passing ability. They know he can save, too. There was a double stop in the Carabao Cup win over Leeds which demonstrated that. His aggression at coming for crosses is a positive but a work in progress.

While Alonso had been using his second-choice goalkeeper in the Carabao Cup, Teddy Sharman-Lowe, 23, is not expected to get the nod at Liverpool next midweek. Sources suggest Penders will keep his place with that trip to Anfield used to give him additional game time while Martinez is sidelined until at least after the next international break in November.

Saturday will be special for Penders and his family. Less than a decade ago, he was a ball boy for Genk in their Europa League draw with Besiktas in 2018. Fulham midfielder Sander Berge, who Chelsea considered signing this summer, scored for the Belgian side in front of a 13-year-old Penders, who now credits that match as among those which made him want to make it as a professional.

Now, he will be able to call himself a Premier League starting goalkeeper, and there will be a fair few back home celebrating that fact. Penders returned to Maasmechelen a few weeks ago to open a new football pitch.

Smeets was there, too, suited up and sitting in a lawn chair as his grandson cut the red ribbon and signed autographs for the local kids. He tends to watch his games on television now while Penders’ parents, Peter and Cindy, travel to England by ferry.

Those trips mean they can pack the car with his childhood belongings, with the goalkeeper having now settled into his own home by Cobham. He hopes to be staying here for some time, ideally as Chelsea’s No1, and on one of their recent visits, Peter and Cindy told him how a local cafe in Uikhoven had asked if they could start a supporters’ club for their son.

Millions of people, including those in Belgium, will now watch how Penders takes on Tottenham. Should Chelsea win, we should not be surprised if he lifts a fist in celebration.