Martinez joins Chelsea for £7.5m but misses Brighton clash due to registration deadline

Emiliano Martinez has signed for Chelsea from Aston Villa in a £7.5m deal, the club confirmed on Sunday morning, but the Argentine will have to wait until next weekend for his debut after missing the Premier League’s registration deadline.

Martinez has put pen to paper on a three-year contract at Stamford Bridge, ending a long-running search for a new first-choice goalkeeper that was given fresh urgency by Robert Sanchez’s performance in Chelsea’s opening-day defeat to Fulham.

Premier League rules require any new signing to be officially registered by 12:00pm on the Friday before a weekend fixture to be eligible for selection. Because the final details of Martinez’s transfer were not concluded until after that cutoff, he cannot feature in Sunday’s home match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Sanchez is therefore expected to retain his place in goal.

“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,” Martinez said after completing the move.

With the paperwork now in order, the 32-year-old will be cleared for Chelsea’s following domestic fixture — a match that carries its own storyline, as it comes against Arsenal, one of his former clubs.