Who is Chelsea & Real Madrid target Gabriel Slonina?

On Sunday, Fabrizio Romano reported that Chelsea were closing in on the signing of Chicago Fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina. The West-London club’s intent to secure the 18-year-old’s signature is said to have increased after Real Madrid had a bid rejected.

A fee of €10m is expected to be enough for Chicago to part ways with the teenager who is contracted until 2023 after signing an extension on his first professional contract in April.

Chelsea are known to snap up young talent from all four corners of the globe for their illustrious academy and Slonina would likely see his role limited to either the U23s or possibly even a loan back to his boyhood club.

That being said, the Blues’ goalkeeper room is set to become depleted with Kepa Arrizabalaga rumoured to be nearing the exit after failing to substantiate the expectations of his record-breaking transfer.

In the event of Kepa’s departure, Thomas Tuchel’s backup options to first-choice Edouard Mendy will be limited to Marcus Bettineli – the 30-year-old made just one appearance last season.

The above may force Tuchel to offer the main support role to Slonina but it seems unlikely considering his inexperience.

Breaking down Chelsea and Real Madrid target Gabriel Slonina

Slonina became the youngest goalkeeper in MLS history after making his debut in August 2021 at 17 years and 81 days. Reflecting on his maiden appearance, he offered insight into the preparation ahead of the moment his short career had built up to.

"“Long before the game, I was doing the preparation work of getting in early, leaving last,” Slonina he said in November last year. “I was trying to do everything properly as a professional to make sure that when I do get that moment, I’m ready for it.”“Once that moment came when I knew I was going to be playing versus New York, I wasn’t I wasn’t nervous at all,” Slonina recalled. “I woke up to the same routine that I always have for every game, because I had always prepared for every game like I was playing. So it wasn’t anything new. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.“I think once I did get into that game, I was a little bit nervous, I wanted to play well and had that performance anxiety. But once I made that first save, everything started to flow well.”Via: 90min"

Any nerves were difficult to identify, with Slonina marking his first game with a clean sheet and a place in the MLS Team of the Week. Since then he has continued to impress at club-level while also catching the eye of his national team.

After representing USA in various age groups from U15s up to U20s, the Illinois-born keeper was called up to the senior squad on two separate occasions but didn’t feature in either. The dual national was then called up by Poland but rejected the call-up in favour of representing USA.

In respect of his goalkeeping style, Slonina’s strengths are attributed to his ability to put his 6ft,4in frame to use. Similar to former Chelsea, now Real Madrid number ‘1’ Thibaut Courtois, Slonina is able to close down angles well and ensure strikers have little to aim at in 1v1 scenarios.

He is also proactive in his approach between the sticks and isn’t afraid to meet the ball to therefore shut down the danger before it can materialise.

Regarding areas to improve, Slonina is prone to a mistake and isn’t going to set the world alight with the ball at his feet but neither should be of too much concern at this stage in his career.