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Chelsea are now considering a move to sign a “world class” Aston Villa player – who might have to be sold this summer.
The Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) mean those in England’s top-flight can no longer afford to simply spend relentless amounts of money, with some top clubs required to make a major sale.
As a result, Aston Villa may have to cash in on one of Unai Emery‘s best performers, with Chelsea sniffing around the situation…
Chelsea eye Aston Villa No.1 Emiliano Martinez
TBR Football understand that Mauricio Pochettino would like a new goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge this summer – and Emiliano Martinez is one name Chelsea are looking at.
Sources believe the Villans may need to offload a key man this summer to comply with PSR – and the Argentina international could be offloaded as he enters the final 24 months of his contract.
Martinez – aged 31 – was a target for Chelsea in the summer of 2023 before Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic arrived in west London, but as both glovesmen fail to truly make the No.1 shirt their own, interest in the South American is now being rekindled.
TBR Football understand Arsenal No.1 Aaron Ramsdale and Everton No.1 Jordan Pickford are also on Chelsea’s shortlist of goalkeeping targets.
Todd Boehly will surely have to present a huge contract offer
Aston Villa look set to qualify for the UEFA Champions League this season, unless Tottenham can somehow oversee a seven-point swing in the final three games.
In regards to Chelsea, the Blues are not going to qualify for Europe’s best club competition this season, and instead seem likely to make the UEFA Conference League, or potentially the UEFA Europa League.
Martinez – described as a “world class” goalkeeper by Garth Crooks – has never played in the UEFA Champions League before as the main goalkeeper, previously making just two appearances for Arsenal in the Group Stage following injuries to Wojciech Szczesny and David Ospina in 2014.
Therefore, Chelsea will need to be incredibly persuasive to lure the Argentine away from Aston Villa – if talk of the Villans needing a major sale is true.
On the topic of the aforementioned Szczesny, the Poland international is also believed to be on Chelsea’s shortlist…