Emi Martinez Takes No.1 Shirt at Chelsea
Emi Martinez has been at Chelsea for five minutes and he’s already changed shirts.
The Argentina goalkeeper arrived from Aston Villa in a £7.5 million deal, walked through the doors at Stamford Bridge and went straight for John Terry’s old No.26. He even debuted in it, flinging himself around in a chaotic 4-3 win over Brighton that felt like a throwback to peak Premier League mayhem.
Now he’s No.1.
Sanchez’s loan move to Como on deadline day quietly created a vacancy in the most traditional shirt a goalkeeper can wear. Martinez didn’t wait. Chelsea confirmed the switch, upgrading their new signing from cult-number nostalgia to the classic keeper jersey in a matter of days.
From Terry’s legacy to his own
The twist, of course, is that Martinez had made a point of asking Terry’s permission to take the 26 in the first place. He had worn the number on loan earlier in his career and liked the feel of it. At Stamford Bridge, it carried extra weight.
"John was someone I spoke to before I joined, and he said he was over the moon to have me here," Martinez said. "The morning I signed, I texted him and said, 'I'm wearing your shirt, and I'm going to do it with pride'."
Terry did more than nod it through. He raved about the signing, calling Martinez a candidate for deal of the summer.
"If I had the choice of any goalkeeper in the world, he would be right at the very top for me," the former Chelsea captain said. "We signed him at Aston Villa from Arsenal and he was unbelievable. The confidence he shows, the way he trains, the influence he had on a group of players, the mindset is incredible."
For Terry, the bond ran deeper than a number. He loved that Martinez shared his obsession with not conceding.
"He’s taking the 26 shirt, yes, we’ve given the green light," Terry had said. "You know why? Because he loves keeping clean sheets as much as I did when I wore the 26 shirt."
That mutual admiration hasn’t disappeared. But the story has moved on. Martinez will now try to write his own Chelsea chapter in the No.1, leaving Terry’s 26 to rest once more.
A restless number, a settled keeper
Since Terry retired, the 26 has been a difficult shirt to keep hold of. Kalidou Koulibaly wore it briefly before moving on. Levi Colwill used it for a season, then switched to the No.6 as he grew into a central role in defence.
Martinez looked, briefly, like the man to restore permanence to it. Instead, he becomes the latest in a long line of Chelsea No.1s, stepping into a role that carries its own pressure and history.
Chelsea have tried to soften the disruption off the pitch. Supporters who rushed to buy ‘Martinez 26’ shirts from the club megastore or official website won’t be left with a relic. The club will allow fans to bring those jerseys to Stamford Bridge by October 4, with proof of purchase, to have them personally signed by the new goalkeeper.
It’s a smart gesture, and a small insight into how quickly Martinez has been pushed to the front of the project.
Arsenal away, and a familiar irony
The timing of the change is impossible to ignore. Martinez is set to wear the No.1 for the first time when Chelsea travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal, the club where he spent years fighting for a chance and where he once wore the No.26 in north London.
Now he returns as Chelsea’s undisputed first choice, with Sanchez out on loan and that wild Brighton win already hinting at the kind of season he might have in blue.
The number on his back has changed. The expectations have not.
