Mike Maignan in action for AC Milan. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Italian journalist details just how close Chelsea got to signing new No.1 keeper this summer

Originally posted on Chelsea News | By Simon Phillips | Last updated Sep 10, 2025 8:00 AM ET

An Italian journalist has been detailing just how close Chelsea got to signing a new No.1 goalkeeper this summer.

We all heard about the rumours of Chelsea trying to sign Mike Maignan from AC Milan and for a little while it looked like it was dead set to happen. Many Chelsea fans wanted to see Chelsea upgrade the goalkeeper area and were pretty excited about the potential of signing the experienced France number one. But in the end, it wasn’t to be.

Chelsea soon moved on from the goalkeeper area and didn’t sign one at all, which was just a little bit odd seeing as they clearly wanted one. They moved onto the attack and signed a number of new players, one was Joao Pedro from Brighton.

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin has been speaking about Pedro this morning and how he thinks he was a better signing than what Liverpool paid to bring in Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.

And another new attacker who arrived at the club was winger Alejandro Garnacho after months of speculation about it. Former Chelsea player Florent Malouda actually believes Garnacho could follow the path of Cole Palmer at Chelsea and come in and bang!

So, what happened with Maignan?

Well, Chelsea very almost signed him….

Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Luca Bianchin had this to say on it, as cited on X:

“At the beginning of the summer, Chelsea put Mike Maignan at the top of their list for goal and seriously considered bringing him to the Club World Cup. For a week, it was thought a deal worth around €18m would be finalised.”

This article first appeared on Chelsea News and was syndicated with permission.

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