Chelsea sign Emiliano Martínez from Aston Villa to address goalkeeping instability

Carlo Cudicini was a very good goalkeeper. However, José Mourinho was ruthless when he became Chelsea manager in 2004. Very good was not good enough. Mourinho wanted the best and one of the main factors behind the Portuguese winning the Premier League during his first season in charge was the decision to replace Cudicini with Petr Cech.

There is an old line about a great goalkeeper being worth 15 points a season. It is not for nothing, for instance, that Brian Clough regarded Peter Shilton as one of his most important signings at Nottingham Forest. Shilton was key when Forest defied the odds by winning the Division One title in 1978 and there are plenty of other examples of promising teams taking the next step only after buying a top No 1.

Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool did not become the finished article until signing Alisson in 2018, while Arsenal might not have finished top last season without David Raya’s crucial save during the 1-0 win over West Ham in May. Chelsea, though, developed a blind spot after selling Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid eight years ago.

A host of inconsistent goalkeepers have come and gone, or in some cases stuck around long after it became clear they were not a patch on Cech and Courtois, and it is only now that Chelsea have tackled the issue head on.

The £7.5m signing of Emiliano Martinez from Aston Villa adds to the sense that this will go down as the summer when BlueCo got serious. The focus on youth remains but has lowered in intensity and the decision to ditch Robert Sánchez after his clumsy performance during last Monday’s 3-2 win over Fulham shows that Xabi Alonso will not hesitate to make the big calls.

The only frustration for supporters is that it has taken this long for Chelsea to give up on Sánchez, three years after signing him from Brighton for £25m. There have been occasional challenges but none have lasted. Mauricio Pochettino switched to Djordje Petrovic midway through the 2023-24 season, only for Enzo Maresca to return to Sánchez after becoming Chelsea’s head coach in the summer of 2024.

Filip Jörgensen, signed from Villarreal as Sánchez’s deputy two years ago, then had chances to establish himself as the No 1. Jörgensen is better than Sánchez with his feet but struggled to convince. Maresca did not stick with the Dane after bringing him into the side in February 2025. The turning point in Liam Rosenior’s brief reign came when his decision to select Jörgensen over Sanchez in a Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain last season backfired so badly that Chelsea lost 5-2.

Jörgensen departed this summer and it seemed that Chelsea were going to ignore all the outsiders who insisted that Sánchez also had to go. The message was that Alonso was happy with his options in goal. Sánchez was going to remain as the No 1 and the academy graduate Teddy Sharman-Lowe was third choice, while part of the thinking behind the club’s refusal to go into the market for a new goalkeeper was their belief that Mike Penders is going to become one of the best in the world.

Penders, who made his debut in the Carabao Cup win over Luton on Thursday, joined from Genk for £17m two years ago. Chelsea’s determination not to block the 21-year-old Belgian’s pathway partly explains why they have not pursued opportunities to sign Milan’s Mike Maignan and Porto’s Diogo Costa during the past two summers.

This was supposed to be a season of gradual change. Sánchez was still first pick but was going to face healthy competition from Penders. Both were content with that situation. Ben Roberts, Chelsea’s head of goalkeeping, worked with Sánchez at Brighton and has long been one of his biggest advocates.

Yet Sánchez’s performance against Fulham forced Chelsea’s hand. It was clear that there was not going to be a title challenge unless a new goalkeeper was signed before Tuesday’s transfer deadline. The proof was overwhelming. Sánchez dribbled the ball behind for a corner at one point and was at fault for both Fulham goals. He spread anxiety, making his defenders nervous, and Alonso knew it was time to act.

Things moved quickly when Chelsea were contacted by Martínez’s representatives earlier this week. The club’s sporting leadership presented the idea to Alonso, who gave them the green light, and the transfer was completed on Thursday night.

There was some doubt about whether it would be a permanent deal. Some people wondered if a loan would make more sense, ensuring this was a temporary fix rather than one to spook Penders.

More pressingly, meanwhile, there were warnings about Sánchez’s mood. There was concern over whether the 28-year-old would accept an immediate demotion. Yet Chelsea have not worried about hurt feelings. There is little time to act but Sánchez needs to leave. He will be frozen out if he stays and looks unlikely to feature when Chelsea host Brighton on Sunday. There is interest from clubs in England, Europe and Saudi Arabia.

This is life at the top. Chelsea have been decisive. Sánchez is capable of wondrous saves, can command his area and is liked in the dressing room, but he is shaky with his feet and prone to calamitous games. Chelsea needed stability. They watched Pochettino, Maresca and Rosenior change goalkeeper during the season. It is better to have a clear hierarchy from the start.

Enter Martínez, who has long been looking for a way out of Villa. He almost joined Manchester United last summer and recently appeared to be on his way to Juventus. Villa have moved on, signing Zion Suzuki. Martínez has been a great servant but wanted a new challenge. Chelsea assessed the conditions of a deal. Martínez had other offers but wanted to play for Alonso. That desire convinced Chelsea to do the deal.

It makes sense. Martínez is 34 next week and has signed on a two-year deal, with the option of an extra year. Penders has an experienced mentor. He can continue to grow and knows his time will come.

Chelsea are focused on the present. Martinez has a winning mentality – he is Argentina’s No 1 and a World Cup winner in 2022 – and has been one of the best goalkeepers in England since joining Villa from Arsenal in 2020. There is still no guarantee Chelsea will challenge Arsenal’s dominance but they surely have a better chance with Martínez in goal.