Enzo Maresca has confirmed his starting XI plans ahead of Brighton and Aston Villa fixtures.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Filip Jorgensen is now the number one goalkeeper at the club for Premier League matches, usurping Robert Sanchez from the role ahead of matches against Brighton and Aston Villa this month.

The goalkeeping spot has been under much scrutiny for the Blues this term. Chelsea paid £20 million to sign Jorgensen from Villarreal last summer in a marquee move but the promising 22-year-old has had to play second-fiddle to the experienced Sanchez.

Several high profile mistakes from Sanchez this term had led to criticism but Maresca remained stoic in his backing of the goalkeeper. Now, however, the former Leicester City boss has confirmed that his patience has run out.

Enzo Maresca confirms new Chelsea no.1

Sanchez was left out of the team against West Ham last week, a decision which came after Erling Haaland was gifted a goal in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City. The former Brighton shot-stopper will not be returning to the XI this weekend against the Seagulls, having been between the sticks for the 2-1 FA Cup defeat.

Maresca said: “Our goalkeeper at the moment is Filip Jorgensen. I said that the Filip solution was also to give Robert Sánchez time to recover mentally and physically but the idea is not to game by game change the keeper.”

Former Liverpool man turned Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher has been one vocal critic of Sanchez. During the 3-1 win over Wolves last month, Carragher slammed the goalkeeper for letting Chelsea’s opposition back into the game.

Robert Sanchez a ‘bottom-half’ goalkeeper

He said: “A corner came in, just before half-time and after this [mistake], and he punches away. That’s exactly what he should have done on that goal. He’s a Premier League goalkeeper.

“It’s not a foul, there’s nothing there. We just keep getting signs, as I think we’ve always probably known, that Sanchez is a Premier League goalkeeper but maybe for a team in the bottom half of the table, not the top half.”

Jorgensen stepped up to the plate against West Ham last week and was rated a 7/10 for his performance by LondonWorld. We wrote: “All eyes on him today given the situation surrounding Chelsea goalkeepers. Got down sharp to make an early save from a corner which settled some nerves but had Stamford Bridge groaning when failing to release on a break early in the second half.”

Swapping Jorgensen in after his backing of Sanchez was a big decision from Maresca, but won that was praised by Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola. The 58-year-old said: “He [Maresca] has been brave changing the goalkeeper. I think Maresca is making the decisions that need to be made.

“Things are going in the right direction. You can’t always play perfect football. Sometimes in games like this, in tough moments, you need to get something out of it and I think they will get a lot of confidence out of this.”

In other news, Chelsea have learnt of a £83 million asking price for a summer transfer target.