Emiliano Martinez Offers Huge Chelsea Gesture After Taking Robert Sanchez's No.1 Shirt | OneFootball

Chelsea took the opportunity to sign Emiliano Martinez from Aston Villa.

New Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez recognised that his decision to take up the number one shirt would impact some fans and planned to reward them.

The 34-year-old officially joined Chelsea last Sunday and made his debut on the same day in the Blues’ 4-3 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.

He initially chose to wear shirt number 26, famously worn by club icon John Terry, whom he had already spoken with prior to his transfer.

However, the number one shirt has since become vacant due to Robert Sanchez’s loan move to Serie A side Como, and the veteran goalkeeper has decided to don that number.

The Argentina international understands the switch would impact some fans who already purchased Chelsea shirts with his name and the number 26 on the back. He has offered to sign all “Martinez 26” shirts obtained from the official club megastore and official club website.

In order to get his signature, fans will be required to bring these shirts to Stamford Bridge along with proof of purchase by October 4.

His decision to switch to the number one shirt is quite fitting, given that he has replaced Sanchez as the team’s number one goalkeeper.

Sanchez was initially expected to continue to play this role at the start of the season. But when Martinez became available after his proposed move to Juventus fell through, Chelsea couldn't miss the opportunity, especially for the price they had to pay Aston Villa: £7.5 million.

Before this, Chelsea were likely reluctant to bring in another goalkeeper since they had a lot of faith in the future of young goalkeeper Mike Penders.

However, at his age, Martinez is unlikely to block Penders’ pathway long-term and may even help the Belgium international develop as a mentor.

Penders is expected to keep competing for the number one spot, although as it stands, he will mostly play in cup competitions.

One of the downsides to Martinez’s late arrival is that he did not have a pre-season at Chelsea, which means it will take time for him to adjust to Xabi Alonso’s system and form partnerships with the defenders in particular.

In his debut against Brighton, for example, Martinez only registered one short pass throughout the game, having decided to play it safe and send it long 37 times.

He managed to create two chances for the team with these long balls, but this approach was arguably partly to blame for Chelsea’s struggles in keeping possession in the game. Chelsea finished the game with only 26 per cent possession, their lowest in decades.