Emiliano Martinez completes eighth Chelsea–Villa transfer in four years
Chelsea have signed Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez from Aston Villa for £7.5m on a three-year deal at Stamford Bridge on 30 August 2026, the eighth transfer between the two clubs in the past four years.
The 33-year-old World Cup winner in 2022 joined Villa in 2020 after a spell at Arsenal, making 256 appearances and helping Aston Villa win the Europa League last season. "I'm delighted to be at this football club," Martinez said. "Coming to Chelsea, for me and my family, was an easy decision to make and I'm just over the moon - I can't wait to get started. 'I want to be successful here. I'm someone who wants to win at everything I do and I want to bring that here to this football club because it's a football club that wins titles, so I think it's a good match."
Martinez's move follows Nicolas Jackson's transfer to Villa last week and completes the sequence that has seen four deals between the clubs during this summer transfer window. This summer's activity included Morgan Rogers moving to Chelsea for £117m, Alejandro Garnacho joining Villa on loan with a conditional obligation to buy in a deal worth around £43m, and Jackson's £65m permanent transfer to Villa.
The recent run of business traces back to Chelsea's new ownership: the relationship began after BlueCo took control of Chelsea in 2022 and signed Carney Chukwuemeka from Villa for £20m that summer. Subsequent moves between the clubs have included Ian Maatsen (£37.5m, to Villa), Omari Kellyman (£19m, to Chelsea) and Axel Disasi (a £5m loan deal, to Villa).
Financially, Chelsea have paid Aston Villa £163.5m for players since 2022, while Villa have spent £102.5m on Chelsea players including Axel Disasi's loan fee. That latter total could rise to £150.5m should certain criteria be met to make Garnacho's loan move permanent, a threshold Chelsea believe is easily reachable.
The volume of transfers between the two clubs has drawn attention inside the Premier League, with one source telling BBC Sport that a number of club executives have raised questions about the frequency of the dealings. BBC Sport noted there is no suggestion either club have broken any rules and has approached Chelsea and Aston Villa for comment.
BBC Sport's analysis counted every permanent transfer and loan between Premier League clubs since the summer of 2022, limited to the 15 sides who have been in the top flight throughout that period, and found a tie at the top: Chelsea have completed eight deals with Villa and eight with Brighton. Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest follow on six, with Arsenal and Chelsea on five, and Chelsea figure in six of the 10 busiest club pairings.
Uefa has the power to scrutinise transfers completed between the same clubs within a 45-day period; Garnacho's loan move to Villa came two days after Rogers signed for Chelsea, and Jackson's permanent transfer went through 38 days after the Rogers deal. The timeline is not, on its own, evidence that the deals were related, and both Villa and Chelsea have cited independent reasons for their signings in the window.
