Chelsea star named alongside Yamal, Bellingham and Yildiz in U23 team of the season

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the Chelsea News

·28 mai 2026

Chelsea star named alongside Yamal, Bellingham and Yildiz in U23 team of the season

Mike Penders had a good season for Strasbourg and has been picked for the best under 23 team in Europe’s top 5 leagues.

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BlueCo have spent more than a billion pounds on young players, so they’ve be hoping for a couple in the “Under 23 team of the season.”

Well by WhoScored’s ratings they managed one – Mike Penders, the Chelsea goalkeeper on loan at Strasbourg. He’s helped a bit by the fact that there are so few Under 23 goalkeepers playing regularly in the top 5 leagues – his 6.65 average rating is the lowest to make it into the XI.

Penders has plenty of promise – and plenty to improve

Mike Penders in the U23 team of the season.

A video of Penders’ best saves, published by the club, shows just what we’ve seen all along.

His size has plenty of benefits, but drawbacks too. He moves pretty slowly across the goal, and doesn’t spring back up quickly.

While he has a knack for great saves, he also has a habit for letting the ball fall back into dangerous areas. Very coachable, but a reminder of how much of a risk it would be to consider him a real contender for the Chelsea first choice job next season.

The real question now becomes what to do with him – he’s not going to improve sitting on our bench, but he doesn’t look quite ready for first team football yet.