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Chelsea have been linked with Liverpool goalkeeper Coamhin Kelleher over the international break after a mixed run of Robert Sanchez performances.

Although reports have been denied by club sources, the debate about who should be Chelsea’s number one rages on, with no goalkeeper making more mistakes leading to goals (3) than Sanchez.

Those mistakes came twice against his former club Brighton, while he gave away a penalty at Manchester United and, although it wasn’t registered as a mistake, the Spain international, 27, was blamed for Curtis Jones’s winner for Liverpool at Anfield.

It must be said that Chelsea’s oldest player also excelled in matches against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, earning his team points with some sensational saves.

A major figure in signing Sanchez was head of goalkeeping Ben Roberts, who worked with him at Brighton and joined Chelsea with Graham Potter, getting promoted from goalkeeping coach despite the Englishman’s sacking in 2023.

He is again working as a goalkeeper coach with new manager Enzo Maresca while still performing his wider role, which keeps an eye on the development of goalkeepers across the club, and includes having a big say on the players that are signed in the position.

Filip Jorgensen was added for £20.7m from Villarreal this summer and has started in cup matches for what has been dubbed the ‘B team’.

That has meant the Swedish-born Dane has yet to start in the Premier League.

But he is said to be a good fit for Maresca’s style of play, which benefited Mads Hermansen at Leicester last season, ahead of their reunion on Saturday.

The move for Jorgensen forced out capable former number one Djorje Petrovic, who remains on the books, along with Bournemouth loanee Kepa Arrizabalaga, who has no future at the club.

But the door has been left open for Petrovic to return from his loan spell at partner club Strasbourg in Ligue 1.

The Serb has excelled in France and fought his way into pole position to become his national team’s starting goalkeeper for the first time.

None of Sanchez, Jorgensen or Petrovic have proven themselves at the highest level but all seem capable of taking the next step.

There is also a host of young goalkeepers on the books like Mike Penders, Gabriel Slonina and Eddie Beach; who are at other clubs but could be called upon in future seasons.

It makes little sense to look to the transfer market for a goalkeeper and Chelsea will no doubt back their recruitment in feeling that there is already a long-term number one in their sphere of influence.

Who that is will be down to the individual performers, with Sanchez to continue as number one into the winter period.