Fulham · Copa del Rey · Attacker · #7 · Spain · 21 yrs
Desailly was desperate for a replacement to come in (Picture: Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images) Chelsea legend Marcel Desailly has torn into the ‘awful’ Robert Sanchez as the Blues put the finishing touches on a deal to sign Emiliano Martinez as his replacement. Sanchez, signed from Brighton for £25million three years ago, was at fault again in his side’s opening game of the new Premier League season on Monday, unconvincing dealing with both of Fulham’s goals in a 3-2 win. It has prompted Chelsea to look at alternative options with the Daily Telegraph reporting the club have agreed a £7.5million deal to bring in Martinez. It will be the fourth piece of business between Chelsea and Villa this summer with Morgan Rogers making the move down south for a Premier League record fee earlier in the window. Alejandro Garnacho has joined Unai Emery’s side with Nicolas Jackson also set to arrive at Villa Park in a deal that could be worth up to £65m. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. Martinez, 33, will sign a two-year contract at Stamford Bridge with the option of a further 12 months. Chelsea will hope his arrival will address a problem area in the side with former Blues star Desailly identifying Sanchez as a clear weak point. The spine of Xabi Alonso’s side has been strengthened with the arrivals of Maxence Lacroix and Rogers this summer but World Cup winner Desailly is convinced Chelsea’s major ‘wobbles’ can be traced back to Sanchez’s presence in goal. Martinez poised to join Chelsea (Picture: AP) Desailly told Metro via SportsCasting: ‘He’s awful! You expect your spine, your defensive spine, to be reliable. That spine includes Lacroix, then Fernandez, Caicedo, Palmer, and now eventually the striker too. ‘It’s awful to see Chelsea wobble because of the goalkeeper. You can put it down to it being early in the season, but you still shouldn’t show that weakness so soon. Desailly described Sanchez as ‘awful’ (Picture: Chelsea FC via Getty Images) ‘I think we should stay confident that he’ll rectify it. But it’s awful to see a Premier League goalkeeper not give that stability and confidence to the rest of a young team. ‘It’s a young team with great ability; they’ve shown they have no fear over their collective performance and pressure, regardless of how big the game is. So the fear comes from teammates who don’t perform and deliver to the standard we’re expecting.’ Sanchez was beaten at his near post by Josh King’s angled shot against Fulham on Monday night. He later spilled another effort into a dangerous area with Gonzalo Garcia pouncing to score. The Spaniard was left out of the Chelsea squad taking on Luton in the Carabao Cup on Thursday night with Mike Penders starting in goal. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
Fulham forward Josh King says training sessions have "gone up a level" this summer after the club brought a range of new talent to Craven Cottage. One of the most noteworthy players brought in was Gonzalo Garcia from boss Alvaro Arbeloa's former club Real Madrid. "We've lost a couple of top finishers in Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson, so I think other people have got to step up, and thankfully I did that today and so did Gonzalo."
This was the fourth occasion that Fulham had started a Premier League season with a London derby and they have now lost all four. Gonzalo Garcia, a player he recruited from his former employers over the summer, made an immediate impression with some excellent movement and exhibited predatory instincts to open his account in England. In doing so, he became the first player to score on his Premier League debut for Fulham since Chris David in May 2014 against Crystal Palace.
Questions remain over Robert Sanchez, who allowed Josh King's low strike to go straight through him for Fulham's equaliser and then tamely parried Timothy Castagne's shot into a dangerous area for Gonzalo Garcia to head in from close range to set up a nervy finish at Craven Cottage. "They have strengthened in every position of the pitch but you cannot take a chance on goalkeepers," said ex-Manchester United defender Gary Neville on Sky Sports. In other words, Sanchez really should have saved it.
Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville (Picture: Getty) Gary Neville believes Robert Sanchez ‘undermines’ Chelsea and should be replaced by new Stamford Bridge boss Xabi Alonso. Sanchez made yet another mistake in Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Fulham on Monday night. The Blues looked in control after Joao Pedro broke the deadlock inside a minute at Craven Cottage, but Sanchez’s error gifted Fulham’s Josh King an equaliser. Sanchez also received criticism for his part in Fulham’s second, scored by Gonzalo Garcia, but the Spaniard’s unconvincing performance did not ultimately cost Chelsea, who ran out 3-2 winners thanks to goals from £117m summer signing Morgan Rogers and the sensational Cole Palmer. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. Neville has high hopes for Chelsea this season, insisting they could emerge as Arsenal’s biggest rivals for the title, but believes it is imperative that Sanchez is replaced in goal. ‘For the first time in a while I really like the spine of Chelsea’s team,’ Neville said on Sky Sports before the game. ‘The goalkeeper could maybe be upgraded but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.’ Analysing Fulham’s equaliser at half-time, Neville added: ‘Chelsea were in a really good shape, showing respect to Fulham. Chelsea No. 1 Robert Sanchez (Picture: Getty) ‘Xabi Alonso will be thinking, “how have we conceded from here?”. We’ve got to be careful about criticising goalkeepers and any players really. ‘But Robert Sanchez does undermine Chelsea’s position. He makes a lot of errors and it just can’t happen that, it can’t happen. ‘It will undermine everything Chelsea do. It’s a problem for Chelsea and I don’t think if Emi Martinez is available, but they need someone like that.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Alonso puts focus on Chelsea attack after 3-2 win over Fulham","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/08\/25\/8750973078746476915\/480x270_MP4_8750973078746476915.mp4","description":"Xabi Alonso called on his attacking trio of Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro to lead and inspire Chelsea this season after their goals helped begin his tenure began with a 3-2 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage.","duration":"T6M8S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/08\/25\/07\/110833415-0-image-a-1_1787638549134.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-25T07:15:36+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Chelsea beat Fulham in their Premier League opener (Picture: Getty) Arsenal legend Alan Smith, meanwhile, suggested Alonso could put pressure on the Chelsea board to sign a new goalkeeper after Sanchez’s performance against Fulham. Reacting to Fulham’s first goal, Smith said on Sky Sports: ‘Sanchez has got to stop it. You shouldn’t be scoring from there, he probably didn’t even expect to score from there. ‘He’s looked nervous from the off. Dear oh dear. It will be interesting to see if Chelsea make a move for a new goalkeeper, this might nudge them in that direction because it’s a shocker from Robert Sanchez.’ Xabi Alonso during Chelsea’s win at Fulham (Picture: Getty) After Garcia scored Fulham’s second, Smith added: ‘It’s another blunder from the goalkeeper,
Tap a headline to view metadata and excerpt fields in Sportra, then use the article website button to continue on the original publisher page.
