It always looked like Emi Martinez was nothing more than a stand in for Bernd Leno when he went down with an injury last year, so everyone expected that the German would be restored to the team when he was fit again.
That might still be the case, but the Argentine keeper was so impressive that he’s shown enough to suggest he can be a starting Premier League goalkeeper.
The Express reported that he was closing in on a move to Aston Villa, with his decision to leave being based on Leno being Arsenal’s number 1 next season and that would mean he wouldn’t play very much.
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Mikel Arteta spoke about the situation in his press conference today, and it certainly sounds like there will be opportunities for Martinez in the team next season:
Mikel Arteta insists that Arsenal will not have a number one goalkeeper next season – does this mean that Martinez will stay? pic.twitter.com/CEd2MPJXyf
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 11, 2020
He confirms that he will not have a number 1 next season and he’ll treat the position as any other, so it sounds like there will be rotation and poor performances will result in players being dropped to the bench.
He does also confirm that although his starter against Fulham won’t be his official number 1, it will be their job to lose so you still have to think Leno will be the first choice keeper for the season if he starts.
It’s still possible that Martinez will feel he needs to leave to fully establish himself as the starting goalkeeper somewhere, but these comments do make a transfer look much less likely.