Chelsea can’t miss Emi Martinez open goal for fear of being fingered | OneFootball

The only conceivable reason Chelsea haven’t yet signed Emiliano Martinez is because they are waiting for a catch.

Which is understandable. Because opportunities such as this come along so rarely in the transfer market, who could blame the Blues for checking if it is legit?

On the face of it, signing Martinez is a deal that Chelsea simply must make. Especially in the absence of alternative plans.

It has been a busy summer, even for traders as prolific as Chelsea, and the Blues have strengthened in almost every position. Except the one they really ought to.

That they have reached the final week of the window without moving for a goalkeeper indicates Chelsea had no plans to. Presumably there are those among the many, many powerbrokers at Stamford Bridge who reckon Robert Sanchez is capable of keeping their goal.

Perhaps they saw the stats from last season that only five Premier League goalkeepers had a better goals prevented number than the Spaniard. Sanchez conceded 47 goals but xG suggests he actually stopped 1.7 goals.

His form was certainly more encouraging last season than the one prior to that but combined over the last two seasons, Sanchez has made eight errors leading to goals.

Goalkeeping, though, can’t always be measured in quantifiable terms. More than anywhere else on the pitch, it’s about how you make those around you feel. Sanchez spreads fear.

He has a reputation for calamity and, fair or not, he is unlikely to change perceptions in Chelsea’s net.

His mistakes on Monday night felt like a timely warning for Xabi Alonso. With so much attacking talent and quality running through his side, in Gary Neville’s words, Sanchez’s slips will “undermine everything they do”.

Mercifully, there is a World Cup-winning solution staring them in the face.

Martinez has wanted away from Aston Villa for two summers now – long enough that the Villans went ahead and replaced him anyway, assuming the goalkeeper would be on his way soon enough.

But Juventus stalled when it emerged they could borrow Guglielmo Vicario instead, leaving Martinez stranded at Villa Park.

It was hardly as though Villa were asking for big money for a goalkeeper still with one of the biggest reputations in the game. Reports suggest Chelsea could sign Martinez for less than £10million – roughly half the profit they stand to make on one-goal Liam Delap.

Given how accommodating Villa and Chelsea are being to one another this summer, doubtless the two clubs can find a way to make a deal work for both.

For seven figures, even if Chelsea were still being weird about signing players past their mid-20s, it’s a no-brainer. More so now the Blues have suddenly realised they need some adults in their dressing room.

Martinez’s often-performative antics might prompt questions over his maturity, but no one can deny that the 33-year-old is a big character with a similar-sized ego.

Which is perhaps what Chelsea need in their goal, even more so than most other clubs. A calming presence could get swamped in the chaos at Stamford Bridge. Martinez might thrive in it.

It may be that Chelsea are wary of the injury Martinez played with through the World Cup.

The ex-Arsenal stopper broke his finger in the warm up for the Europa League final, played anyway, then swerved the recommended surgery to be available for Argentina. It did not affect his performances, even if Martinez admitted to being in pain.

Mangled digits is an occupational hazard of being a goalkeeper. But even a looming operation should not deter Chelsea from doing a deal almost too good to be true.