🚨 Milan's miserable season continues with home defeat to Atalanta
🚨 Milan's miserable season continues with home defeat to Atalanta
Atalanta piled further pressure on Sérgio Conceição with a 1-0 win over Milan.
Scorers: Éderson 62'
Gian Piero Gasperini's side broke the deadlock just after the hour mark at San Siro through Éderson's diving header from a Raoul Bellanova knockdown at the far post.
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La Dea have consolidated their third-place standing in Serie A, three points clear of Bologna, while the Rossoneri sit ninth in the table as their miserable season continues.
📸 Marco Luzzani - 2025 Getty Images
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New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
The Chelsea goalkeeping conundrum: Would Mike Maignan have represented an upgrade?
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As a result, they have ended their interest in the 29-year-old for now — though there is nothing to stop them pursuing a pre-contract agreement with him in a little more than six months' time. A footballer's value is typically determined by the mechanics of the transfer market, with sporting directors and owners of rival clubs engaging each other in a game of negotiation and leverage. That is vital in determining whether or not a mooted deal happens, but in this case it is ultimately less interesting for supporters than the footballing proposition: would Maignan actually represent a meaningful upgrade on Chelsea's current options at his position? Looking at a goalkeeper's primary responsibility (saving shots) provides the foundation for a compelling case to sign him. Over the course of 23,153 league minutes played for French side Lille and Milan since the start of 2017-18, he has 8.7 goals prevented — calculated by Opta as the difference between actual goals conceded and the post-shot xG value of chances conceded — at a mildly positive average of 0.03 goals prevented per 90 minutes. Sanchez and Jorgensen are both significantly inferior to Maignan in this metric, across far fewer league minutes. Djordje Petrovic, who shone on loan at Strasbourg in the French top flight this season, has performed better than Maignan, with 22.2 goals prevented at an average of 0.23 per 90. Petrovic may simply be an exceptional shot-stopper, but at age 25 has played fewer than 9,000 league minutes since the start of 2017-18, so it is also possible that his eye-catching numbers would regress at least a little over a larger, more comparable sample size. The positive value of his goals prevented is concentrated overwhelmingly in his seasons with New England Revolution in MLS and Strasbourg, while he struggled in his lone campaign playing for Chelsea. Advertisement Maignan's ability to be a net positive in terms of keeping the ball out of his goal, over the equivalent of more than 250 league appearances for Lille and Milan, marks him out as a safe pair of hands. But in the modern game, goalkeepers in elite teams are asked to do much more than simply save shots. Maresca wants Chelsea's goalkeeper to be just as comfortable operating outside his penalty area as within it, both to disrupt opposition attacks and to provide an additional passing option in possession. When it comes to being a sweeper-keeper, Maignan is as active as they come; no goalkeeper in Europe's top four leagues (England, Germany, Italy and Spain) made more ball recoveries outside their penalty area in 2024-25. 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But, on the whole, he clears the bar that neither Sanchez nor Jorgensen set particularly high during this season, despite a stronger end to the campaign from the former. Maignan's age could also make him a solid 'bridge' goalkeeper for a few years while Chelsea develop 19-year-old newcomer Mike Penders, who will be involved in their challenge at the Club World Cup. We now know Maignan will not be with them in the United States over the coming weeks, but the market opportunity his contract situation presents is one that Chelsea may want to keep a close eye on in the months ahead.
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Yahoo
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