Former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez – who had been on the Gunners’ books for more than a decade – has revealed the extent of his disgruntlement towards the end of his spell at the Emirates Stadium by opening up on his text exchanges with Gunners manager Mikel Arteta.
The 28-year-old Argentine struggled to feature regularly for the Gunners throughout his time in north London, although he captured attention for a run of formidable displays which culminated in him helping the Gunners to win their 14th FA Cup – a record in English football.
Despite Martinez’ form, he mainly served as a deputy for former Bayer Leverkusen ‘keeper Bernd Leno, with the German ruled out over the summer with a serious knee injury.
Martinez did start in the Gunners’ Community Shield win over Premier League champions Liverpool, though he soon found himself replaced by Leno.
Given Martinez’ good form, he understandably felt disgruntled at again fearing he would be forced out of Arsenal’s plans, and so opted to seek a move – one which eventually came in a £20m transfer to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa.
In a cruel twist of fate for the Gunners, their former goalkeeper kept a clean sheet while Leno conceded three goals in a 3-0 rout by Martinez’ new side on Sunday night.
After the match, Martinez explained how the move came about in comments sourced via Daily Mail:
‘They called me from day one after the win against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. I just wanted to play first-team football and Arsenal could not guarantee me that.
‘They would not say I was going to play in the first game of the season against Fulham so when I had that doubt I had to leave and Villa were the first option and the only one for me.’
Asked how the conversation with Arteta went after he found out Leno had been picked ahead of him, Martinez replied:
‘We sat down, I think he said it in a meeting.
‘I was talking to him in front of a team-mate as well. I told him I wanted to play week in, week out and he couldn’t guarantee who was going to start.
‘Even before the Community Shield he didn’t know who was going to play in goal. After 10 years at the club I didn’t want to wait until Friday night, the day before the game, to know whether I was going to play against Fulham or not.
‘So I just text him to say I was going to Aston Villa, so please help me and let me go.’
Despite his frustrations at Arsenal, Martinez was not too critical of Arteta and praised him for his honesty and openness.
‘He was very honest and very open with me.
‘He helped me to leave the club after so many years. I’ve already said how grateful I am for that and how pleased I am about how well he is doing at Arsenal. I’m so happy he is the leader of the club.
‘Obviously I have ambitions and he couldn’t help the ambitions that I wanted, so we had a clear conversation. He’s a very honest man and a great leader for this football club.’
Read Arsenal Verdict
Whilst Arteta’s openness should be seen as a reassuring example of good man management, Arsenal may well rue losing a dependable goalkeeping option.
Considering his age and service at the club, perhaps Arsenal felt less aggrieved about letting Martinez progress in his career – especially for the fee they commanded for a 28-year-old.
Communication is vital to fostering a good relationship, and maybe Arteta could have made clearer that Leno would be certain to hold down the number one spot when fit.
