Ian Wright believes Chelsea missed a trick by not signing Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal in the summer.

There has been a lot of debate about whether Enzo Maresca‘s side are genuine title contenders and Wright feels that, if they had someone like Ramsdale in goal, they would have a better chance of finishing top of the table:

“You look at Chelsea now and offensively, everything is in order. I thought Jadon Sancho was very good, obviously, Cole Palmer is doing great stuff, but defensively they just need to tighten up everything.”

“I think now if they can get a top goalkeeper – I thought Ramsdale would have been perfect for them and that ‘Thiago Silva’ experienced centre-half then I think Chelsea very much in this fight because for me they’ve got everything else.”

Ramsdale is not an upgrade on Sanchez

While the England international is highly rated by Wright, his numbers don’t really stack up.  Since making the £25m move to Southampton, Ramsdale has conceded 0.3 more goals than his xG.

That isn’t necessarily bad but it isn’t great either. Robert Sanchez is not exactly rated as a top keeper but he has actually conceded 0.2 fewer goals than his xG in the Premier League so far this season.

When we look at save percentage, the difference is even greater. Sanchez’s is 77.8% while Ramsdale’s is 67.3%.

Chelsea are not the finished article

Maresca is adamant that his team are far from having a genuine chance of winning the title and there is no doubt that the team has frailties both in goal and in defence.

It will be interesting to see how far they can go this season, even with the likes of Sanchez in the team. Considering many pundits didn’t even believe the Blues would get a top 4 spot, it seems they are poised to exceed everyone’s expectations regardless.

Find out who is in Chelsea’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here