Emiliano Martinez will wear Chelsea’s No 1 shirt after making only one appearance in No 26, a swift reversal made possible by Robert Sanchez’s deadline-day loan to Como.
The Argentina goalkeeper debuted in the No 26 during Chelsea’s 4-3 victory over Brighton, having selected a number strongly associated with former captain John Terry. Martinez had consulted Terry before taking it and made clear that he regarded the shirt’s history as significant. Within days, however, the more conventional goalkeeper’s number became available and Chelsea confirmed the change.
Martinez has also offered to sign No 26 shirts bought through Chelsea’s official retail channels. Supporters seeking the gesture must take their shirts and proof of purchase to Stamford Bridge by October 4.
A practical change outweighs a symbolic choice
There is little mystery in the immediate cause of the switch. Sanchez had held No 1, and his loan departure removed the obstacle to Martinez taking it. For a goalkeeper arriving to compete for, or assume, the leading role, No 1 conveys a clearer message than No 26 ever could.
That does not mean No 26 was an empty decision. Martinez’s connection with Terry gave his original choice a personal dimension, rather than being merely a temporary squad allocation. Terry had worked with Martinez at Aston Villa and publicly welcomed the move to Stamford Bridge. Martinez, in turn, had noted that he had used 26 during previous loan spells.
The sequence instead illustrates how quickly the late stages of a transfer window can make earlier decisions redundant. Chelsea appear to have given Martinez a shirt that carried an established club association while Sanchez remained on the books. Once Sanchez departed, retaining that arrangement would have been difficult to justify when the No 1 was vacant.
The important distinction is between respect for a former captain’s legacy and the identity of the current first-choice goalkeeper. Martinez can retain the former without wearing the number. Chelsea have previously issued No 26 to other players since Terry’s retirement, so it is not a permanently reserved shirt, but its symbolism was always likely to attract attention.
What the switch says about Chelsea’s goalkeeping reset
Martinez joined from Aston Villa in a reported £7.5m deal shortly before Sanchez’s exit. Multiple reports agree on the broad timeline, though they differ in the detail surrounding Chelsea’s change of course in goal.
One account says the club had intended to begin the season with Sanchez and Mike Penders as its senior goalkeeper options, before mistakes in the win over Fulham prompted a rethink and Martinez’s subsequent arrival. That explanation has not been expanded upon in Chelsea’s announcement, which focused only on the number change and Sanchez’s loan. The club has not publicly set out whether Martinez was always viewed as the long-term No 1 or whether the late-market opportunity altered its planning.
Those unanswered questions matter more than the shirt itself. A number can be reassigned in an afternoon; status is established through selection, performances and the degree of patience afforded when results turn. Martinez is expected to be available for Chelsea’s trip to Arsenal, but No 1 alone is not a formal declaration that Sanchez was displaced solely by one difficult outing.
There is also a minor discrepancy in the reporting around the background, rather than the key facts. Reports consistently place Martinez’s first Chelsea appearance against Brighton and agree that Sanchez’s loan created the vacancy. However, the explanation for why Chelsea pursued Martinez so late has been reported in greater detail by some outlets than others. Until the club addresses its recruitment decision directly, the suggestion of a sudden reversal should be treated as reporting rather than a settled account of Chelsea’s thinking.
Sanchez begins again at Como
For Sanchez, the move to Como offers a clean break from the shirt he left behind. His loan was the administrative event that allowed Martinez’s switch, but it should not be reduced to a footnote: it removes Chelsea’s previous No 1 from an increasingly crowded goalkeeping picture and sends him into Serie A at a time when regular minutes will be central to his next step.
Como’s immediate task is an away match at Genoa. The Genoa vs Como prediction assigns Como a 66% chance of victory, compared with 12% for Genoa and 22% for a draw, with model confidence at 52%. Whether Sanchez is involved is a separate team-selection matter, but the fixture provides an early setting for the club that has enabled Chelsea’s No 1 reshuffle.
Martinez’s new number therefore closes a very short chapter rather than undermining his earlier tribute to Terry. The No 26 shirt was worn once, acknowledged by supporters who had bought it, and superseded when Chelsea’s squad changed. What follows at Arsenal and beyond will give the No 1 far more meaning than the speed of the alteration.