Aston Villa have offered goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to Chelsea as the West London club evaluate their options following a shaky performance from Robert Sanchez.
The 33-year-old Argentina international has asked to leave Villa Park for a new challenge, prompting the Birmingham club to seek a buyer after a potential move to Italian side Juventus collapsed earlier this month despite an initial £6 million offer.
Martinez is currently one of three senior goalkeepers at Aston Villa following the arrival of Japanese keeper Zion Suzuki. With former Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans having departed for Manchester United in July, Martinez remains the club's highest earner, but manager Unai Emery intends to move forward with Suzuki and Dutchman Marco Bizot as his main options.
Questions over Chelsea goalkeepers
At Chelsea, manager Xabi Alonso had indicated earlier in the summer that he was satisfied with Spanish goalkeeper Sanchez and 21-year-old Belgian keeper Mike Penders. However, Sanchez produced a shaky display during Chelsea's 3-2 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage, raising further doubts over his position as first-choice goalkeeper.
Addressing Sanchez's form on Wednesday, Alonso played down major concerns while emphasizing overall team progress. "Normal conversations. We have talked more about the team thing, about what we did well and what we have to do better," Alonso said. "It was more about understanding the context. Every game is going to be important because we are in this process that we still need to develop things, we need to make adjustments that are more team-related."
Opportunity for Mike Penders
Chelsea rate Penders highly after bringing the former Genk youth player into their squad following a successful loan spell at French club Strasbourg last season. The youngster, who has been likened to former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, could make his full debut in Thursday's Carabao Cup tie against Luton Town.
Alonso confirmed today that Penders is set to feature against the Bedfordshire side, saying: "He's in the squad and will have an opportunity." Stamford Bridge decision-makers view a potential move for the experienced 33-year-old Martinez as a short-term solution that would not hinder Penders' long-term development.
Martinez has continued training with Aston Villa since returning from the FIFA World Cup, and the club have confirmed that the World Cup winner is fully fit and not suffering from any injury.
Unai Emery confirms departure request
Villa boss Emery confirmed that Martinez has explicitly requested a transfer away from Villa Park. "We have signed Suzuki not for the future, but for now," Emery stated. "He has shown his capacity and that he can play at our level."
Emery explained that Martinez had previously expressed a desire for a change of scene before deciding to stay. "Martinez transmitted to us the possibility to have another challenge in his career, not just now and even last year, and he was thinking in case he had a possibility to change his challenges, but he stayed and performed fantastic," Emery said.
"This year, again, he transmitted to us for a new challenge, and we signed Suzuki to replace him. But the scenario we have is that we have two great goalkeepers," Emery added, also praising backup keeper Bizot. "Bizot as well, when we needed him, he responded fantastically. My ideal scenario with the goalkeeper is really fantastic, but maybe we can still change something."
