Martinez Takes Chelsea's Iconic No.26 Shirt
Chelsea have a new No.26 – and it’s a statement as much as a squad number.
The club have confirmed that Martinez will wear the shirt once owned, and effectively immortalised, by John Terry. For more than a decade, 26 meant one thing at Stamford Bridge: the captain, the trophies, the defiance on the goal-line. Since Terry walked away in 2017, the number has barely surfaced. Only Kalidou Koulibaly and Levi Colwill have briefly taken it on, and neither spell ever felt permanent.
For Martinez, it’s not just a free slot on the list. It’s a challenge.
He knows exactly what 26 represents in west London and has chosen to step straight into that history. The message is clear: he is not coming to Chelsea simply to make up the numbers. He wants responsibility, presence, a voice in the dressing room – the kind of authority Terry once imposed on every training session and every back four.
And before he made the call, he went to the source.
Taking on a shirt so closely tied to a club legend can weigh heavily. Martinez made sure it started from a place of respect, not presumption. The Argentina international, who worked under Terry during the former defender’s coaching spell at Aston Villa, picked up his phone before the deal was done and sought the blessing of the man who made 26 famous.
"I remember using the 26 on loan a few times with previous clubs, and of course I knew John Terry famously had the 26 here," Martinez said. "John was someone I spoke to before I joined, and he said he was over the moon to have me here. From our time together at Aston Villa, he knows how hard I work and what I can bring to Chelsea. The morning I signed, I texted him and said, 'I'm wearing your shirt, and I'm going to do it with pride'.
The transfer itself arrived with little warning. Chelsea had publicly sounded content with their goalkeeping department, hinting at stability rather than change. Then doubts crept in over recent performances, and the mood shifted. The club moved quickly, striking a £7.5million deal to bring in the experienced Argentine and reshape the competition between the posts.
For Martinez, the speed of it all only sharpened the emotion.
"It’s incredible," he said in his first interview as a Chelsea player. "It’s been an amazing few days. Obviously, it happened really quickly, but I'm delighted to be at this football club. I’ve been in England for nearly 17 years and to play for Chelsea is a dream for me."
There was no gentle bedding-in period. No quiet debut in a cup tie.
Martinez went straight into the starting XI for a wild 4-3 win over Brighton, thrown into the chaos of Premier League tempo and a see-saw scoreline in his very first outing in blue. He picked the ball out of his net three times, but those numbers only tell part of the story. When Chelsea wobbled, he came up with big saves, the kind that tilt a frantic game back in your favour and protect three points that might easily have slipped away.
Robert Sanchez still wears the No.1 shirt and remains a key figure, yet the dynamic around him has changed overnight. With Martinez in 26, Chelsea’s goal now carries not just another pair of hands, but a fresh layer of pressure and ambition.
At Stamford Bridge, that particular number has always demanded a certain personality. Martinez has chosen it. Now he has to live in it.
