Romano says Chelsea “attentive” to €28m man in “superb form”; but 3 major blocks on a transfer | OneFootball

Chelsea bought two goalkeeper last summer, and one the summer before that. Yet none of those players are looking particularly convincing right now, and it’s no surprise that we continue to read transfer links about this summer as we heard towards the transfer window.

One of these links was actually addressed by Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive Caught Offside column this week. Since moving from Arsenal to Aston Villa, Emi Martinez has established himself as that rarest of things – a big-name, superstar goalkeeper.

Romano isn’t convinced by these links just yet:

“Chelsea are also attentive to the goalkeepers market, from what I heard, and I’m aware there have been reports about another former Arsenal player as Emi Martinez has been linked with the Blues after his superb form for Aston Villa,” Romano wrote.

“At the moment, Martinez is fully focused on Villa and loves being at the club. We will see what Chelsea decides to do, but it’s not something concrete at this stage.”

Emi Martinez playing for Aston Villa.

Not a major temptation – yet

In all honestly, we can’t see this happening anytime soon, for a few reasons.

Firstly, Aston Villa are going to be in the Champions League next season, and we are not. Martinez is a hero there and will want to reap the rewards of his efforts helping him get there.

Secondly, he will also be wary of moving on after his early-career struggles at Arsenal. He has been thriving as a bigger fish in a slightly smaller pond at Villa, who are well run and upwardly mobile. Chelsea don’t really represent an upgrade on that right now, so why risk it?

Thirdly, he’s valued at just €28m on TransferMarkt, but Villa probably consider him priceless given his importance to them, so Chelsea can’t expect a cheap deal either. But all of these factors can change in the space of a season, and don’t be surprised if this move is back on the cards in 12 months time.