Chelsea’s ideal first signing of the summer would cost just £34m – and he plays in La Liga

For the most part, the problems with Chelsea’s squad come down less to individual quality but to team cohesion. The talent and ability that will be at Enzo Maresca’s disposal is undeniable, and they don’t need to make too many signings to bring the side up to the standard required – rather, they need to find a head coach who can gel the players into a functional team. But there’s one exception, and that’s in goal. Fortunately, a solution is presenting itself at just the right time.

Neither of last summer’s signings, Robert Sánchez and Đorđe Petrović, have been entirely convincing, and there are growing reports that Behdad Eghbali and the rest of the free-spending board behind Chelsea’s recent transfer sprees are targeting a new shot stopper, with TeamTalk reporting that they have two men at the top of their list – Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili and Villarreal’s Filip Jörgensen. It’s the former who should probably excite fans the most.

Mamardashvili, the 23-year-old Georgian international, is rapidly earning a reputation as one of the finest ‘keepers in Europe. His towering 6’6”, enormous wingspan and rapid reactions have drawn understandable comparisons with Gianluigi Donnarumma, and the seemingly preternatural speed with which they get themselves down to make low saves from a great height seems uncannily similar.

And like Donnarumma, the Valencia number one is also superb at using his physical presence to command his area, claiming high crosses with confidence and having few issues forcing his way through a crowd to reach the ball. He is close to being the complete classical goalkeeper – perhaps the only criticism a goalkeeping coach might make is that he doesn’t always parry the ball to safety and can be guilty of making the save but not necessarily making the second ball safe. Fortunately, if there is a rebound to be dealt with, he tends to make that save too.

The numbers behind his most recent season in Spain – he has been Valencia’s first choice between the sticks for two and a half years now – are wildly impressive. His overall save percentage of 73.1% would have put him fourth in the Premier League charts for the season just gone, but the really amazing statistic is how many goals he prevents compared to the xG of the shots he faced. Valencia should, on average, have conceded more than 10 goals more than they did were it not for Mamardashvili’s interventions. No goalkeeper in the English top flight comes especially close.

It doesn’t even look as if the price tag will be too outrageous. The Georgian has a massive €100m (£85m) release clause to his name, but recent reports which have appeared in numerous outlets suggest that Valencia will consider selling him for just €40m (£34m) this summer as they continue to battle against a parlous financial situation – one of Spain’s most historic sides are saddled with debts from a new stadium which remains uncompleted 17 years after construction began and from years of mismanagement from its owners.

They will probably face competition from other clubs – Newcastle United are reported to be looking into a bid as well – but it’s rare that an opportunity to sign such an evidently capable goalkeeper for such a reasonable price come up. There is only one area in which a question could be raised over Mamardashvili, and that’s in his ability to perform the sweeper-keeper role that Maresca would want him to.

Compared to many modern goalkeepers, Mamardashvili doesn’t look to venture out of the box all that often – partly because of Valencia’s tactical structure and partly because he lacks top-end pace, meaning he isn’t really capable of haring out of his area to intercept direct balls over a high line in the way many are trained to do these days.

Maresca’s methods include a goalkeeper who can get closer to the defensive line to provide cover and a passing option, which hasn’t necessarily been the way the Georgian has played thus far in his career, but there is evidence that he would likely be OK in the new head coach’s system. Firstly, although his long-range distribution isn’t remarkably strong despite being his usual first option, his accuracy with short-to-medium range passing is actually very good – 96.5% last season inside 30 yards. And while he would struggle to cover an exceptionally high line, Maresca’s pressing unit typically leaves an extra covering defender back compared to most similar teams, meaning that there would be an extra layer of protection against direct passes and quick counters.

Villarreal’s Jörgensen, 22, is probably under consideration largely because he is more comfortable outside the area and has the extra bit of speed to cover the defence a little more readily, but he isn’t such a talented technician or so capable of sprinting out to take the ball away from forwards that he should be a serious consideration over Mamardashvili – the Danish youth international, who was born in Sweden, can’t hold a candle to his Valencia counterpart when it comes to making saves or handling crosses.

Jörgensen only has one season as a starter under his belt and may develop into a much stronger all-round player as he goes on, but he’s only one year behind Mamardashvili, hasn’t demonstrated the same exceptional level of ability thus far, and thanks to his own €40m release clause probably wouldn’t come any cheaper. Jörgensen could develop into a very fine goalkeeper and had a good first season at Villarreal, but Mamardashvili looks like a far safer bet and a goalkeeper who is ready to start in the Premier League right away. It’s also worth noting that several sources back up Chelsea’s alleged interest in the Georgian, but there is less support for the theory that they want Jörgensen in the first place.

There are other positions that Chelsea are keen to invest in this summer, not least up front, but right now they have a very real chance to sign one of the most talented goalkeepers in the world for a fair price and sort out one of the few appreciable weaknesses in the current team. Missing out would be a mistake.