Chelsea are reportedly close to signing Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and it could be a huge move for them.
Robert Sanchez has never truly filled Blues fans with confidence between the sticks. After three years, the Spaniard’s time as number one goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge may be over.
He did have a brief stretch as back-up in early 2024, but due to injury. Luckily for Sanchez, the likes of Djordje Petrovic and Filip Jorgensen weren’t able to make the position their own. So he always found his way back into the starting XI.
This season, however, has already seen him show exactly why Xabi Alonso may look elsewhere in search of a shot-stopper.
Chelsea did enough to beat Fulham comfortably on opening weekend, creating – and scoring – with ease. But Sanchez kept the Cottagers in the game twice. First by conceding an avoidable goal from Josh King’s near-post effort and then by parrying a shot into Gonzalo Garcia’s path for the hosts’ second.
Now, though, Emiliano Martinez could provide a much better and more reliable option. Mike Penders has immense potential, but the risky nature of his in-possession game – and his young age – may be too much for a starting spot in a Premier League side that will certainly aim for big things this year.
Emiliano Martinez vs Robert Sanchez vs Mike Penders: Chelsea goalkeepers compared
Shot-stopping
All three of Martinez, Sanchez and Penders registered 0.3 clean sheets per 90 minutes last season in their respective leagues. But the Argentine edged out his potential new teammates in save percentage and fewest goals conceded.
The Belgian actually made more saves, but Strasbourg were a more exposed side in Ligue 1 last term than Aston Villa or Chelsea in the 2025/26 Premier League.
Distribution
Distribution is a key topic – and a tricky one from Martinez’s perspective. He may be the worst of the three in this regard just going by the eye test, and the numbers certainly back that up.
Dibu doesn’t exactly look the most comfortable goalkeeper in possession, especially under pressure. Sanchez, on the other hand, might look a bit too comfortable for his own good.
Penders, however, is light years ahead of his peers. Liam Rosenior constantly used him as part of the 3+2 or 3+1 structure to initiate build-ups at Strasbourg. His sheer presence gave the French side numerical advantage against the opposing press. But his ability to play through or over it was decisive for them to go from defence to attack quickly and smoothly.
This skillset will certainly come in handy for Xabi Alonso in the future should he last as Chelsea manager. Sanchez, for one, already appears to have fallen out of favour. Martinez is 33 years old and has already shown some decline relative to his early Aston Villa years.
It’s important to remeber the Blues once had a different Belgian sensation in goal – and took their time with him. They signed Thibaut Courtois from Genk in 2011 but sent him out on a three-year loan to Atletico Madrid. That’s where he turned himself into one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Penders has already enjoyed a successful loan spell at Strasbourg and may have to wait a little bit more to get a proper chance at Stamford Bridge. Moving temporarily to a different club may be on the horizon for him as well.
The 21-year-old – who also came through the ranks at Genk – started Chelsea’s Carabao Cup tie against Luton Town. But with Sanchez moving to the bench, he could steal Penders’ cup minutes for the remainder of the season.
Reliability
Right now, Martinez brings more stability between the sticks than Sanchez or Penders.
His antics in the 2022 World Cup literally changed Fifa rules in penalty situations. He has also saved more penalties in the Premier League since joining Aston Villa ahead of the 2020/21 season than any other goalkeeper (5, the same as Lukasz Fabianski).
Robert Sanchez, for perspective, has faced two more penalties in his time in the English top tier – and saved two fewer: 3/23, as opposed to Martinez’s 5/21.
Over this same spell, which is also when Sanchez joined Brighton and Hove Albion, the Spaniard leads all Premier League goalkeepers in errors that generated shots for the opposition (27).
Out of the 33 shot-stoppers that have played more than 4,000 minutes since then, Sanchez ranks first in errors leading to shots per 90 minutes (0.16). Martinez, on the other hand, ranks 17th with 0.09 – nearly half of his potential new teammate.
Sanchez is currently one of Chelsea’s main weak links. They look relatively thin at the back in terms of depth and availability. And also downright poor in the left-back/left-wing-back spot. But the mistakes a goalkeeper makes are much more costly than the ones in other positions do.