Chelsea Eye Late Move for Emi Martinez as Sanchez Faces Pressure
Chelsea are exploring a late move for Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez after the Argentina international was offered to the club by his representatives.
The approach comes at a delicate moment for Chelsea’s current No 1, Robert Sanchez, who is under pressure after a costly error in Monday’s win at Fulham. The mistake reopened an old debate at Stamford Bridge: can this team truly return to the elite without an undisputed, world-class goalkeeper?
Martinez on the market
Martinez, Argentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper, is expected to move on after Aston Villa signed Zion Suzuki from Parma for close to £30m. With Suzuki arriving as a major investment, Villa are prepared to let their long-time No 1 go if the right offer lands.
Juventus had shown interest earlier in the window but ultimately chose to sign Guglielmo Vicario from Spurs, leaving Martinez’s future open as the deadline approaches.
Since joining Villa from Arsenal in 2020, Martinez has built a formidable reputation. He has played 256 times for the club, anchoring a side that has grown under Unai Emery into a genuine European force.
His time in Birmingham has been decorated, too. Martinez lifted the Europa League trophy in May and helped Villa qualify for two Champions League campaigns, a transformation few foresaw when he first arrived from north London.
Serial winner for club and country
The 32-year-old’s CV with Argentina is even more striking. Martinez was central to Argentina’s World Cup triumph in 2022 and part of the side that finished runners-up at the 2026 tournament. He has also collected two Copa America titles, in 2021 and 2024, and the Finalissima in 2022.
It is that blend of pedigree, presence and personality that has put his name on Chelsea’s desk at a time when doubts over Sanchez refuse to fade.
Merson: ‘One of the best in the world’
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes Martinez would represent a major upgrade between the posts, even if he comes with a strong personality.
“Martinez is available and he can be hard work sometimes. He comes across like that. But he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world,” Merson said.
“And if Chelsea want to get back to being one of the best in the world, you’ve got to have a top goalkeeper.”
Merson did offer some protection for Sanchez, describing him as “usually a good shot-stopper” and acknowledging that on his day the Spaniard can look spectacular.
“This weekend, or against Arsenal at the Emirates in two weeks’ time, he could be mind-blowing,” Merson said. “He could make save after save after save and you’ll sit there and go: ‘Wow.’ He could save Chelsea next week.”
But the Fulham game, in Merson’s eyes, underlined a damaging pattern.
“At 1-0 you were looking at it and thinking this is going to be three or four,” he said. “But he lets in a cheap goal and all of a sudden the game has turned on its head really. It looked like Fulham were the team that were going to get the next goal.”
The unforgiving spotlight on Chelsea’s No 1
Merson stressed he does not enjoy criticising goalkeepers, pointing out that a single error from a keeper is punished far more harshly than repeated mistakes by outfield players.
“You make one mistake for every 50 mistakes the outfield players make with their passing,” he said. “But the match against Fulham was another game that he brought the other team back into the game.”
He contrasted Sanchez’s reliability with that of Arsenal’s David Raya.
“I’ve never known a team ever win anything without a top goalie. I’m sitting there now thinking when was the last time David Raya made a mistake? The Wolves game in February maybe? But once. In February.
Sanchez makes one mistake a week nearly. And a goal may not come from it, he might kick the ball out for a throw-in.”
The Fulham match offered a clear example in Merson’s mind.
“Chelsea were dominating, he takes a great catch from a corner and he plays a terrible throw out to Cole Palmer. That happens week in, week out. And the ball could be intercepted, the ball goes back into the box and the opposition score out of nothing.”
Will Martinez change Chelsea’s ceiling?
Even so, Merson does not believe signing Martinez alone suddenly turns Chelsea into title contenders.
“I don’t think Martinez takes Chelsea towards the title,” he said. “You look at Arsenal’s squad and if you change a player, it hardly weakens the team. Every position is solid.
If you look at Chelsea, they’ve got a lot of players in each position, but it weakens the team.”
For Merson, the immediate priority at Stamford Bridge is not chasing Manchester City or Arsenal, but restoring Chelsea to the Champions League.
“The name of the game for Chelsea is to make sure when this season finishes, they are playing Champions League football next season. It’s as simple as that,” he said. “They came 10th last season. And you’ve got to learn to walk before you can run.”
Whether Chelsea decide that the first step in that walk is a new No 1 in the shape of Emi Martinez may define how quickly they can start to run again.
