Emi Martínez’s arrival means it’s curtains on the Robert Sánchez experience at Chelsea

It was a fool’s errand on Chelsea’s part to start a fourth season with Robert Sánchez as their starting keeper, and his dibbly-dobbly performance against Fulham in their season-opening 3–2 victory only went on to prove that point emphatically.

The message in the circles around Stamford Bridge was clear: Sánchez would begin the season in goal until the young and highly rated Mike Penders is ready to take that spot sometime during the course of the season.

But his performance in the opening game against Fulham pretty much made it clear that the Robert Sánchez experience at Chelsea Football Club needed to come to an end. Such atrocious was the nature of his outing that it showcased all the reasons why match-going Chelsea fans stopped trusting him in any capacity a while ago.

For Fulham’s opener, Sánchez not only left acres of space on his near post for Josh King to take aim, but also allowed a relatively tame effort squirm straight past him for the Cottagers to equalise. For the second goal, he parried Timothee Castagne’s goal-bound effort right at new signing Gonzalo García, who nodded home to make it 3–2 to cause a few flitters of anxiety in new coach Xabi Alonso.

It could have been worse, as Sanchez almost gifted a third as his wayward positioning pushed him into no man’s land, but fortunately for him, Antonee Robinson skewed his attempt way wide off the target.

It is not only these errors that have made Sánchez’s role as Chelsea’s starting goalkeeper untenable; it is everything that he has done to reach this situation. Every missed pass, every dilly-dally on the ball gives the opponents time to press him (as he did against Fulham, giving them a corner in the process), and his reckless positioning (he got sent off for his clumsy and reckless lunge on Bryan Mbeumo last season) puts further pressure on his teammate. All these have accumulated over the years, bringing him to the point of no return.

Put simply, Sánchez has failed to inspire a sense of confidence and calm not just in his fans, but also his backline, leading to further inconsistency. Even in his good stretches of form, there is a mistake in him. And once a goalkeeper is classed with that tag, there is no coming back from it.

The imminent signing of Emi Martínez from Aston Villa shows that Chelsea have had enough. Here’s a goalkeeper who is no stranger to the big moments, having won the World Cup in 2022, reached the final against this summer, and having also won the Europa League this year. He will bring calm and confidence with his ability to command his box and back line, soothing the nerves of the entire team in the process.

While his typically bravado-fuelled keeping style will result in mistakes (he had six errors leading to a goal from seasons 2023/24 to 2025/26), he has comfortably had more good games where he has led his team to crucial victories. Martínez has shown the ability to not only play in hostile situations, but also save his teams in match-defining moments, something that Sánchez has not done in a Chelsea shirt.

Emi Martínez is a clear upgrade on Robert Sánchez, and his imminent signing means it’s curtains on Chelsea’s ill-fated Robert Sánchez experience.