Chelsea made a strong push to sign Sergio Martínez after Xabi Alonso gave the green light for the Premier League side to make advances.
The 19-year-old graduated from Racing Santander’s academy and made his way into their B team in 2025. Later that year, he made his first team debut, managing a goal and an assist in 15 matches.
His performances and potential convinced Chelsea and several other European clubs to bet on him. Real Madrid won the battle and secured his services by activating his €3m release clause on August 31st.
Real Madrid again posed problem for Chelsea
The Blues appointed Xabi Alonso as their manager in the summer, and he arrived after leaving the La Liga side in January.
In the summer window, the Spaniard raided Real Madrid to sign left-back Álvaro Carreras after selling Marc Cucurella to Los Blancos. However, the west London club didn’t acquire his signature.
Besides Carreras, José Mourinho’s side stopped Chelsea from signing Sergio Martínez, and Friday’s edition of AS shares an insight.
Several European clubs showed interest in the midfielder, and four clubs reached the final stage. Apart from the sporting and financial aspects, he picked Real Madrid because of his ‘affinity’ towards the club.
| Every Chelsea signing 26/27 | Previous Club | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Morgan Rogers | Aston Villa | £120m |
| Maxence Lacroix | Crystal Palace | £52m |
| Geovany Quenda | Sporting | £41.5m |
| Marco Palestra | Atalanta | £47m |
| Valentin Barco | RC Strasbourg | £34m |
| Pep Chavarría | Rayo Vallecano | £17m |
| Emiliano Martínez | Aston Villa | £7.8m |
| Danny Welbeck | Brighton | £5.1m |
| Jordan Henderson | Brentford | Free |
Chelsea’s concrete attempt explained
From Spain, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Villarreal and Atlético Madrid, who had previously made attempts, tried to sign him. In the end, Los Blancos won the battle even though their offer wasn’t lucrative financially.
RB Leipzig, who have a reputation for betting on young talents and developing them, had made a strong push.
Club Brugge had also launched an attempt to convince Sergio Martínez both financially and sportingly.
The newspaper further adds that Chelsea, after Xabi Alonso’s approval, made a strong bid.
AS makes no mention of figures and states it was a ‘higher offer than the rest’. In the end, it wasn’t enough to convince him.
José Mourinho’s call was also decisive for him to pick the Spanish giants over Chelsea and others. Martínez is now part of Real Madrid Castilla and made eight league appearances this season.
