Chelsea have agreed a £7.5m fee with Aston Villa for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, according to the BBC’s Nizaar Kinsella, with the Argentina international set to undergo a medical in London before the move is finalised.
The 33-year-old would add competition and experience to Chelsea’s goalkeeping options, arriving with the transfer deadline just days away.
Sanchez errors prompted the move
The report ties Chelsea’s interest directly to growing unease over Robert Sanchez, who has been the club’s first-choice goalkeeper since 2023. In Monday’s 3-2 win over Fulham, Sanchez let Josh King’s shot slip through his grasp at the near post, then spilled a second effort into a dangerous area in the second half, allowing Gonzalo Garcia to score.
Those errors appear to have shifted thinking at Stamford Bridge. Kinsella describes it as “a remarkable turnaround in opinion”, noting that Chelsea’s hierarchy had been keen to back Sanchez before opting to move for Martinez in the closing days of the window.
Where it leaves the goalkeeping group
Martinez would join a department that already includes Mike Penders, signed from Genk for £17m. Penders is in line to make his Chelsea debut in Thursday’s Carabao Cup tie against Luton Town, regardless of how the Martinez deal progresses.
For Villa, the willingness to let Martinez leave follows their own move for a replacement — the club signed Japan international Zion Suzuki from Parma for around £30m earlier this month, a deal that made a Martinez departure more likely.
Another chapter in a busy Chelsea-Villa relationship
The clubs have done considerable business with each other in recent times. Chelsea’s club-record £117m signing of forward Morgan Rogers from Villa stands as the highest-profile of those deals, while winger Alejandro Garnacho moved to Villa on an initial loan last month.
There’s also a Nicolas Jackson deal in motion alongside the Martinez talks: the striker, valued at around £65m, was completing a medical at Villa Park on Thursday, which would reunite him with Unai Emery, his former manager at Villarreal.
Further back, the two clubs were involved in what Kinsella calls a “PSR swap”, sending defender Ian Maatsen to Villa while Omari Kellyman — now at Strasbourg — moved to Chelsea.
A deal Juventus couldn’t complete
Martinez was also a target for Juventus earlier in the window, but that move collapsed over concerns about a finger injury. Juventus turned instead to Tottenham’s Guglielmo Vicario, signing the Italy international on loan.
Is the deal done?
As things stand, Chelsea and Villa have agreed the fee, but the move is not yet complete. Martinez is still to undergo a medical in London, the standard final step before any transfer is formally registered. Until that’s done and the paperwork is filed before the deadline, the deal remains subject to confirmation rather than settled fact.
