Emi Martinez is a wally – but he might be Chelsea’s smartest summer buy
Emi Martinez is a wally – but he might be Chelsea’s smartest summer buy
Matt LawSun, August 30, 2026 at 8:13 AM UTC
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Emiliano Martinez arrives at Chelsea with bravado, but also the CV to back it up - John Walton/PA
Emiliano Martínez turns 34 on September 2 and by most tangible metrics, the goalkeeper is past his peak.
But it is the intangibles that set Martínez apart and why his availability at a knock-down price convinced Chelsea to seize a market opportunity.
At £7.5m, Martínez could prove to be Chelsea’s smartest piece of business of the summer and there is little doubt he will be box-office at Stamford Bridge.
To put it politely, he is a wally. But now he is Chelsea’s wally and supporters will forgive Martínez his moments of madness if he can deliver clutch moments – as he has done for Aston Villa and Argentina.
As recently as the start of August, Chelsea were killing rumours linking the club to new goalkeepers. By then Villa had already said on record that Martínez was staying. But, as is often the case in football, things changed.
Villa grasped the chance to sign top target Zion Suzuki, consequently making Martínez available, while Robert Sánchez’s performance in Chelsea’s 3-2 victory over Fulham was far from convincing.
Chelsea had stood by Sánchez, despite constant criticism of his goalkeeping and accusations that he was not good enough, believing he had all the physical attributes to reach the top and that most of his problems could be put down to decision-making, which could be improved.
Robert Sanchez did not do his case any favours with a poor performance in Chelsea’s season opener against Fulham - Adrian Dennis/Getty Images
Turning 29 in November, however, there has not been enough evidence that Sánchez is improving and Villa’s need to remove Martínez, who earned a reported £150,000 a week, from the wage bill proved too tempting for Chelsea.
To understand Martínez’s X factor, it is easiest to listen to the man himself. Describing his strengths to Jamie Redknapp, Martínez said: “I’m decisive. I can save penalties, I can pass a ball, I can come in the air. I can be aggressive if I need to be.
“I don’t know if I’m the best goalkeeper in the world, but I give confidence to my team. Sometimes, that’s all I need from the back, when they look they say ‘oh, Emi’s there’. That’s all I need.”
Villa insiders believe Martínez effectively saved the club’s season last term by stopping Sunderland completing a remarkable comeback and taking a 4-3 lead after being 3-1 behind with less than five minutes remaining.
Martínez produced a remarkable piece of brinkmanship to stand up to Habib Diarra and save his shot shortly after Sunderland had equalised. Seconds later, Tammy Abraham scored a late winner for Villa.
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“That was one of the best pieces of goalkeeping I’ve ever seen, given the situation,” said a Villa insider. “Had Sunderland scored and won the game, then I’m convinced we would not have finished in the top five or won the Europa League. We’d have been mentally shot.”
Martínez is a winner. Not even Lionel Messi could inspire Argentina to World Cup success without him, and he helped Villa lift the club’s first major trophy in 30 years by claiming last season’s Europa League.
Martinez puts Unai Emery on his shoulders after Aston Villa win the Europa League - Angel Martinez/Getty Images
But there are inconsistencies in Martínez’s game and character. For all the match-winning moments, there are mistakes – such as kicking the ball straight to Mohamed Salah to score for Liverpool last season.
He was stripped of the vice-captaincy after spending last summer’s transfer deadline day waiting for a move to Manchester United that never materialised and effectively ruling himself out of Villa’s next game against Crystal Palace.
Unai Emery, the Villa manager, revealed this was the second summer in succession Martínez had asked to leave and a move to Juventus fell through before Chelsea came in.
Responding to whether or not his Premier League club would be interested in signing the former Arsenal goalkeeper this summer, one official said: “We’ve spent all summer trying to move on difficult characters.”
Sources at Villa insist Martínez was not seen as a big problem behind the scenes. He turned up, trained well and, ultimately, performed well. The number of times he withdrew from squads on matchday – four, citing muscle issues – was a source of irritation but was tolerated.
There is also an acceptance that, to some extent, Villa helped to create the Martínez persona. His dancing and gamesmanship wound up opponents, but was encouraged during his early days at the club.
In an interview with Telegraph Sport, Neil Cutler – Martínez’s first goalkeeping coach at Villa – said: “The big thing we worked on was his body language and the way he held himself within games. Basically, we worked on confidence to the point of arrogance on the pitch, so he was bordering on arrogance. So everybody could see his passion and his desire because that’s him as a person, but he never showed it.
“We were working a lot on him showing how passionate he is, showing his desire and I think that shows more and more in the way that he plays, he shows people he cares and you can see that real character in the way he plays rather than previously, when he would go within himself a little bit. Now he’s the complete opposite.”
Supporters serenaded Martínez with the “world’s No 1” song at Villa Park, although the stadium announcer dropped that particular moniker when reading out the players’ names last season.
Martínez, who has twice been awarded the Yashin Trophy, is not the world’s No 1 these days. But he is an upgrade on Sánchez and his intangibles may yet help Chelsea secure some tangible success this season.
Source: “AOL Sports”
