Emiliano Martinez has completed his $10 million move to Chelsea from Aston Villa and many believe this is one of the final pieces of the jigsaw needed to turn them into legit Premier League title contenders.
Adding the 33-year-old World Cup winner, who has been sensational for many years at Villa, is a massive upgrade in a position where Chelsea badly needed it.
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Over recent years not signing a new goalkeeper has come back to haunt Chelsea and Martinez is the kind of shot-stopper who is worth 8-10 points a season. At least. It’s a cliche but it’s true. All of the intangibles also line up for Martinez to excel at Chelsea.
That moves the needle for Chelsea and could well turn them from top four hopefuls into outside title contenders this season. In theory.
Martinez’s experience, mentality key
Xabi Alonso and the Chelsea board have acted quickly after seeing Robert Sanchez make two big mistakes in Chelsea’s 3-2 win against Fulham to open the season.
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Sanchez has consistently made big errors leading to goals and something had to change.
Martinez’s arrival means Chelsea’s defense now know they have a goalkeeper behind them capable of pulling off sensational saves and also knowing what you have to do to win games.
Yes, Martinez does make the occasional area, but every other area of his play makes up for that.
Only Gianluigi Donnarumma had a higher save percentage in the Premier League than Martinez last season and only Donnarumma and Senne Lammens were above him in the goals prevented category.
Short-term replacement moves the needle in the right direction
In recent years Chelsea have spent big in pretty much every area except in goal and young Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders is a top prospect but isn’t ready for the Premier League yet.
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Now was the time to finally address the goalkeeping situation.
Martinez is a wonderful short-term solution and Alonso must be applauded for pushing to add extra experience to this Chelsea side as Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and now Martinez all add exceptional leadership to a very young squad. That matters.
Time will tell how much of a difference Martinez actually makes, but his arrival won’t hurt Chelsea’s hopes of being outside title contenders this season.
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