Is Emiliano Martinez joining Chelsea?

Chelsea started their summer business this year with a flurry of player sales, with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount joining Arsenal and Manchester United respectively, and a number of stars like N’Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly leaving to join the Saudi Pro League.

Alongside those two, the club also sold Champions League-winning goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to Al-Hilal, leaving themselves with just Kepa Arrizabalaga as the club’s only recognised senior number one.

The Spaniard’s return to the starting lineup has been something of a comeback story after his disastrous first season with the club that featured his now infamous refusal to be substituted by then Blues manager Maurizio Sarri.

Despite his relatively good season for the West London side that saw him average a rating of 6.81 across his 29 Premier League appearances, it looks as if the club have decided they want to move on and replace him with someone else.

Ben Jacobs (via the Express) reported in January this year that the club were interested in three goalkeepers, Brentford’s David Raya, Everton’s Jordan Pickford, and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Robert Sanchez, but this was under the management of Graham Potter.

Now it looks like their attention might have shifted towards Villa’s World Cup-winning Martinez as their new number one goalkeeping target; at least, that is what Argentinian broadcasters TyC Sports reported back in May.#

The links could be resurfacing once again as Pochettino is said to be a big fan of the player and that, alongside a new striker, a goalkeeper was his number one priority, per Alex Crook.

He explained the situation on TalkSPORT’s YouTube channel, saying:

“I have been told that Mauricio Pochettino is a big admirer of the Aston Villa goalkeeper. This would be an expensive deal to do because I think he’s still got four more years left on his contract, but I know the goalkeeping department is a cause of concern for you as someone that follows Chelsea, and I think it’s a cause for concern for Pochettino as well.

“When he came in, I was told a number nine and a goalkeeper were very much at the top of his wanted list. Watch this space on Martinez.”

How good is Emiliano Martinez?

After his heroics for Argentina in last year’s World Cup, and especially in the final, there can be very little disagreement over the fact that Emi Martinez is one of the best keepers in Europe’s top five leagues at the moment, and his underlying numbers help to demonstrate that fact.;

According to FBref, who compare players in a similar position across Europe’s top five leagues, the “monster” sits in the top 1% for crosses stopped, the top 3% for defensive actions outside of his penalty area, the top 15% for touches, and the top 22% for goals against, all per 90.

He wasn’t just brilliant at the World Cup either, as WhoScored gave him an average rating of 6.87 across his 36 Premier League games, which, considering the poor form Villa showed before the arrival of Unai Emery, is pretty impressive.

His performances have won him plaudits from some of the game’s very best as well, with Arsenal great Ian Wright saying on ITV (via BirminghamLive):

“He’s played brilliant. Went to Aston Villa, did brilliantly. For Argentina, he’s in the perfect position to do what he does best.”

If Todd Boehly can get Pochettino the man he wants this summer, then that’s one area of the team that’ll be so much stronger next year as the team once again push for Champions League football.