Even as Chelsea’s Club World Campaign continues, a lot of the main conversation regarding Enzo Maresca’s Blues centres on major transfer developments.
Yet, for the time being, the Blues will just be content that they secured their pathway into the quarter-finals of the global competition, beating Benfica 4-1 after 4 hours 38 minutes.
Bad weather meant the game was suspended for several hours despite Chelsea leading 1-0 with four minutes of normal time to go.
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Of course, patience will be exercised on Chelsea’s end to ensure they get the very best out of the 20-year-old, off the back of him lighting up the Bundesliga last season with his promising and captivating displays.
In all competitions last campaign, Gittens helped himself to 12 goals and five assists, with plenty more to hopefully come from the youngster when he moves to English shores, knowing he might well be the Blues’ starting man down the left channel when you consider no one has really successfully nailed down that position.
Maresca will be praying that Gittens can slot in instantly and perform to fill their Jadon Sancho-shaped hole, with Sancho tallying up five goals and ten assists on the temporary books of the Blues last season, before a sombre return to the Red Devils.
It’s a risky move for Chelsea, though, considering the 20-year-old had only amassed 14 more goal contributions for the Black and Yellow past his breakout 2024/25 offering.
On the other hand, Martinez has been at the peak of his powers for some time now as a reliable Premier League figure.
Games played
196
Saves made
573
Clean sheets
59
Goals conceded
241
Penalties saved
4
Wins
91
Looking at the table above, despite never making the first-team cut at Arsenal, Martinez has gone on to become a consistent top performer for Unai Emery’s men, with 573 saves and counting made in the challenging league.
Even when he struggled last season, Martinez still managed to collect 15 clean sheets in all competitions, five of which came about in the Champions League. To add context, Sanchez only amassed ten clean sheets and was undoubtedly one of the biggest underperformers in the Chelsea team.
In short, the Blues need to sort out their goalkeeper rankings more than their attacking options, with Sanchez giving away two penalties and making five errors leading to a goal in the top-flight last season. No ‘keeper made more errors.
As a result, the “world-class” Martinez – in the words of Gary Neville – would significantly improve Chelsea’s chances of winning more silverware next season.
He’d be seismic upgrade on the error-stricken Sanchez.
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