Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Emi Martinez asked to leave the club in the summer. The ex-Gunner will line up against his former club for Aston Villa this evening following his £20m transfer back in September.
At the time, many supporters were disappointed with the decision to sell the 28-year-old but Arteta felt he had no choice but to let him go as he couldn’t guarantee him regular first-team football:
“We have to make the right choices in the market and obviously, I couldn’t guarantee him to be the number one. He’s a very ambitious person, he has been working really hard and he can see now that the opportunity is there. He’s got the opportunity to play with Argentina and when a player asks you to do that I think you have to be open enough and tell him what you think about him. If he makes the decision to leave, you should try to support him because he deserves it for the way he has served the club over the years.”
Supporters on Twitter are still frustrated that Martinez was allowed to leave, particularly as many feel that Bernd Leno hasn’t matched the standards set by the Argentine at the back end of last season:
This still hurts ?
— RICHIE (@YMaked) November 7, 2020
Emi such a good keeper a mistake to let him go
— Rob King (@RobKing22729950) November 7, 2020
Better than Leno
— Sonic (@CEOOFCHELSEA) November 7, 2020
Leno is better
— Bra Kofi (@KofiNtori) November 7, 2020
I get the feeling he'll be like Manuel Nuer in his prime when we face Villa???.
— Timothy Tan (@Tringapore_98) November 7, 2020
Let’s bring this guy back please!
— Cissé Sekou (@CissSekou10) November 7, 2020
Sold him for 20m and replaced him with a 1.5m player that's why
— Magisterial (@Mag1sterial) November 7, 2020
Ridiculous, should be our number one.
— Robbie (@Robert24773649) November 7, 2020
Shouldn’t have sold him. He’s better than Leno
— zafar (@zaf__ar) November 7, 2020
Martinez’s save percentage for Villa is 67.9%, which is a substantial drop on the 76.1% he managed for Arsenal last campaign. Compared with Leno’s 79.1% this season, there really isn’t any argument to be made to suggest that Arteta made the wrong decision in keeping the German over the Argentinan international.