Marcus Bettinelli still hoping for a chance to impress at Chelsea

Since joining Chelsea eighteen months ago, in the summer of 2021, Marcus Bettinelli has made exactly one appearance for the club, in the FA Cup third round match against non-league Chesterfield FC.

Now, obviously, having signed up as the third-string goalkeeper, expectations should’ve been and probably would’ve been well managed in terms of potential involvement, but that’s still a rather sparse record — even if he has gotten to traipse around the world with the team in the meantime while being a great teammate and glue guy.

But at the end of the day he’s still a professional player with plenty of years left in the tank at age 30, and is thus hoping to impress and play a bit more often. It sounds like he might get that chance today as we take on Aston Villa in a friendly.

“For the last two seasons, minutes have been few and far between for me. I am looking forward to the match today. It is only a friendly, but it is still Aston Villa, and a fresh chance to show the manager what you can do personally.

“We’re really looking forward to it. It should be a good day, so let’s finish the week with a positive result.”

-Marcus Bettinelli; source: Chelsea FC

Bettinelli looked well buried in the depth chart earlier this year, but Chelsea’s goalkeeper situation has gotten a bit less stable this season with Édouard Mendy dropped and Kepa Arrizabalaga putting together a fantastic month of October before getting hurt. Maybe there will indeed be an opportunity or two for Betts to show what he’s got not just on the training ground — before his contract expires at the end of the season.

You never know in football!