Chelsea transfer news: Why Blues passed up on Gianluigi Donnarumma deal as 'belief' revealed

Chelsea reportedly opted against signing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma during the summer transfer window for one specific reason.

Donnarumma surprisingly found himself out of the plans of Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique, subsequently seeing him linked with a number of Premier League clubs.

Manchester City ultimately won the race for the Italy international's signature and he has since impressed between the sticks for Pep Guardiola's side.

As well as Manchester United also being credited with an interest, Chelsea were said to be considering an approach for Donnarumma when their goalkeeping options remain in the spotlight.

Nevertheless, according to TEAMtalk, Chelsea purposely did not make much progress in the race for Donnarumma.

Why did Chelsea not make move for Donnarumma?

The report alleges that Chelsea officials retain confidence in eventually bringing AC Milan stopper Mike Maignan to Stamford Bridge.

Although AC Milan successfully kept the France international at San Siro for 2025-26, he is out of contract in the summer and will naturally be linked with Chelsea.

As it stands, it appears that the West Londoners still have plans to bring Maignan to the Premier League, albeit facing widespread competition for the 30-year-old.

That left Enzo Maresca continuing with both Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen as his goalkeeping options for this campaign.

Each goalkeeper is currently receiving widespread criticism, Sanchez for his early red card against Manchester United last weekend and Jorgensen for producing an extremely shaky display versus Lincoln City in the EFL Cup.

While Maresca has generally express faith in Sanchez, both the Spain and Denmark internationals will be at risk of being sold or loaned out ahead of 2026-27.

Do Chelsea still need Maignan?

Young Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders is currently impressing on loan at fellow BlueCo-owned club Strasbourg, keeping three clean sheets in six appearances.

The 20-year-old is viewed as the future number one of Chelsea, raising the question over whether the Blues actually need to go out and sign Maignan.

He will only move to Chelsea if he is first choice, whereas Chelsea will not want to block the pathway of Penders given his undoubted potential.

That all said, there is the realistic possibility of Maignan and Penders both being in the first-team squad next season, with Chelsea looking to generate funds through the departures of Sanchez and Jorgensen.