Chelsea Confidential: The untold stories that shaped ‘Magic’ Mike Penders, as Cobham insiders tip 6ft 7in goalkeeper with unshakeable mentality and secret signal to be ‘absolutely elite’ ahead of acid test against Spurs

Published: 21:00 EDT, 21 October 2026 | Updated: 21:00 EDT, 21 October 2026

There is a reason why Mike Penders asked Chelsea for the No39 shirt. It is a nod to 1939, the year his grandfather and biggest supporter, Nico Smeets, was born.

Smeets used to be granted special access to watch his grandson train with Genk and the other clubs of his youth in Belgium. He reckons he missed no more than ten sessions in 15 years.

They even had a secret signal. If Smeets had his hands flat on the fence, it meant he did not think his goalkeeper grandson was doing well enough. If his ‘pépé’ was forming fists, it meant he was, and should keep it up.

It was the same when Penders played for Genk’s first team, debuting for the Belgian Pro League side as an 18-year-old. He would look to the stands for Smeets and see a lifted fist among the supporters. It was a gesture aimed at giving him confidence before kick-off.

Now, Chelsea’s supporters are banking on this 21-year-old Belgian to ensure they are the ones with fists in the air come full time on Saturday. That is when Tottenham Hotspur visit Stamford Bridge, and when Penders will be starting in the Premier League for the first time.

Emiliano Martinez is out having had surgery on a fractured jaw, and it is one fiery baptism for Penders: Tottenham first, followed by Liverpool then Manchester United. Xabi Alonso needs his second-choice goalkeeper to grow up fast, though by all accounts, this is no ordinary understudy.

Mike Penders is set to make his first Premier League start on Saturday for Chelsea against Tottenham

Penders came through the ranks at Belgian top-flight side Genk and has represented his country at every level from Under 17s to Under 21s

Ask those inside Chelsea and, after preaching patience, they will hail Penders’ potential as ‘huge’. One senior source even described his ceiling as ‘absolutely elite’. Just try not to mention Thibaut Courtois in their company. There are some within Chelsea who are not overly fond of comparing the two. They think it heaps unnecessary pressure on ‘Big Mike’.

They accept the comparisons are inevitable, however. Both are 6ft 7in left-footers with large wingspans. Both came through the famed Genk academy, which has also produced the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard and Divock Origi. Both were signed by Chelsea at 19, then sent on loan to gain experience – Courtois spending three seasons with Atletico Madrid and Penders one with sister side Strasbourg.

Lesser known are a couple of other connections. Penders wears 560 All Stop gloves. Yours for £76, they are made by a Belgian brand called REAL, which Real Madrid keeper Courtois bought two weeks ago (he was previously an ambassador for the company).

Penders’ father, Peter, is also friends with Courtois’ old man, Thierry. When Penders was struggling to find boots that fit properly because his shoe size is so large, Thierry immediately contacted Nike to send the exact equipment he needed.

However, Courtois has won two Premier Leagues, four La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and has 115 caps for Belgium. At 34, he is one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation. Penders is just getting started, and he has spent the last two years since Chelsea signed him on a pre-agreement worth £17million from Genk preparing for this moment.

In his very first week at Chelsea, Penders was surprised. He was struggling to keep hold of shots in training. They were faster and more precise than those he was used to facing. That did not spark a crisis of confidence in the young man from the sleepy village of Uikhoven in Maasmechelen, however.

Rather, Penders told himself it was good – proof he needed to work harder if he wanted to succeed at Premier League level. He agreed a season on loan at Strasbourg would help, with the standard in France better than Belgium and a good bridge towards England.

In Alsace he continued to improve under Liam Rosenior, doing enough to earn his place in the Belgium squad for the 2026 World Cup and the right to stay with Alonso’s Chelsea this summer.

Penders made his Genk debut as an 18-year-old in 2024, going on to make 25 appearances for his first professional side before joining Chelsea

Last season he starred for the Blues’ sister club Strasbourg on loan, reacing the semi-finals of the French Cup and the Conference League

His form for Strasbourg earned him a place in Belgium’s World Cup squad (pictured right), alongside former Chelsea star Thibaut Courtois (left) and Man United’s Senne Lammens

Goalkeepers hate conceding, but there is one concession which Penders is willing to make. At 21, this Belgian is humble enough to know he is not yet the complete package, even if some in his homeland have taken to nicknaming him ‘Magic Mike’.

‘I want to write my own story,’ Penders has said when asked about the comparisons to Courtois.

That story, in the Premier League at least, started off the bench in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Everton, with Martinez carried off on a stretcher. Alonso offered Penders a few words of encouragement on the touchline. Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts, who had a bird’s eye view of the game with a seat in the Hill Dickinson Stadium press box, was communicating with the bench below. Penders received instructions from Roberts’ assistant James Russell and set-piece specialist Austin MacPhee.

But once he was on the pitch with Chelsea leading 1-0, he was on his own. He became the club’s youngest goalkeeper to play in the Premier League, but those close to Penders say he ‘eats’ pressure. One description from an old coach is that he has an ‘unbelievable mentality’. A childhood friend adds that he gets ‘more nervous than Mike does’.

In the 84th minute at Everton, he punched clear a cross at the edge of his box, prompting an away-end eruption. Four minutes later, he dropped a catch from a long throw, a reminder that he is raw. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, he learned referees will not always show sympathy to goalkeepers being wrestled at corners.

By full-time, he had contributed to Chelsea’s first clean sheet in the Premier League since January, having previously only appeared in the Carabao Cup – in a 2-0 win over Luton and 6-3 thumping of Leeds. The first goal he conceded in his Chelsea career came from a corner, while there were other balls into the box from Leeds which caused concern.

It is one way in which Tottenham, who have attempted more crosses than any other Premier League side this season and taken the highest number of corners, are expected to test Penders. Roberto De Zerbi’s team will seek to pounce on any fumble, any parry, any mistake.

Chelsea’s goalkeeping department, led by Roberts, are preparing Penders for that in the build-up to Saturday. His decision-making, positioning and technique will need to be faultless.

Penders made his Premier League debut off the bench at Everton last week after Emiliano Martinez broke his jaw in a horrifying clash

The 6ft 7in stopper was briefed by manager Xabi Alonso (second right) and set-piece specialist Austin McPhee (right) before coming on

Penders rose to the challenge and helped to keep Chelsea’s first Premier League clean sheet for nine months

Roberts has known Penders for more than two years now. He used to phone him regularly while he was at Genk and then Strasbourg to evaluate his game.

Chelsea already know about his passing ability. They know he can save, too. There was a double stop in the Carabao Cup win over Leeds which demonstrated that. His aggression at coming for crosses is a positive but a work in progress.

While Alonso had been using his second-choice goalkeeper in the Carabao Cup, Teddy Sharman-Lowe, 23, is not expected to get the nod at Liverpool next midweek. Sources suggest Penders will keep his place with that trip to Anfield used to give him additional game time while Martinez is sidelined until at least after the next international break in November.

Saturday will be special for Penders and his family. Less than a decade ago, he was a ball boy for Genk in their Europa League draw with Besiktas in 2018. Fulham midfielder Sander Berge, who Chelsea considered signing this summer, scored for the Belgian side in front of a 13-year-old Penders, who now credits that match as among those which made him want to make it as a professional.

Now, he will be able to call himself a Premier League starting goalkeeper, and there will be a fair few back home celebrating that fact. Penders returned to Maasmechelen a few weeks ago to open a new football pitch.

Smeets was there, too, suited up and sitting in a lawn chair as his grandson cut the red ribbon and signed autographs for the local kids. He tends to watch his games on television now while Penders’ parents, Peter and Cindy, travel to England by ferry.

Those trips mean they can pack the car with his childhood belongings, with the goalkeeper having now settled into his own home by Cobham. He hopes to be staying here for some time, ideally as Chelsea’s No1, and on one of their recent visits, Peter and Cindy told him how a local cafe in Uikhoven had asked if they could start a supporters’ club for their son.

Millions of people, including those in Belgium, will now watch how Penders takes on Tottenham. Should Chelsea win, we should not be surprised if he lifts a fist in celebration.