Emiliano Martinez leaves Aston Villa to join Chelsea for £7.5 million

Just a few days ago it looked like Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez would end up in Italy. Now it turns out he never left England at all: the World Cup winning goalkeeper is leaving Aston Villa to sign with Chelsea, one of the clubs fighting for the Premier League title. The deal is worth around £7.5 million and the contract is expected to run for two years, as confirmed by ESPN FC.

The outcome makes sense once you look back at how the season had been unfolding for "Dibu." His future at Villa Park had already been shaky since the club signed Japan's Zion Suzuki, who they identified as their long-term goalkeeper. Before that there was an attempted move to Juventus that fell through in early August, and Martinez wasn't even available for the harsh 4-0 defeat to Brighton at the start of the Premier League season.

On the other side, Chelsea had a specific problem between the posts. Robert Sanchez had put in a shaky performance in the 3-2 win over Fulham on Monday, with a glaring error as he was beaten by a fairly soft effort from Josh King. The initial plan at Stamford Bridge was for Mike Penders, the 21-year-old Belgian who spent last season on loan at Strasbourg, to start challenging Sanchez for the starting spot as the games went on. But adding an established goalkeeper, one with a World Cup title and plenty of Premier League experience, changes the picture for a team looking to compete seriously for the title.

And "Dibu's" career backs up that bet: he was a key piece of Argentina's World Cup winning side in 2022 and was also part of the squad in this summer's final, which the national team lost to Spain. This is no ordinary goalkeeper arriving in London.

A move that works for both sides

For Aston Villa, the departure also makes sense from an internal standpoint. The club needs to lower the squad's average age and, more importantly, needs to raise funds before the transfer window closes in order to comply with financial fair play rules, both UEFA's and the Premier League's own. This window has already seen Morgan Rogers leave, fittingly for Chelsea, for £117 million, along with the departures of Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne.

For "Dibu," it closes out a chapter that began in 2020, when he arrived from Arsenal for £17 million. Now, without ever leaving England, he switches locker rooms to join a project that is genuinely fighting near the top of the table.