Does Martinez still have a future at Arsenal?

Will Emi Martinez stay at Arsenal?

Emiliano Martinez was picked to start Arsenal’s opening pre-season friendly against French side Lens on Friday, with the likes of Cech, Ospina and Szczesny all absent from the squad. It seems like he’s been an Arsenal goalkeeper for ages, but will he soon be on his way out the Emirates exit door?

Martinez is now in his sixth year with Arsenal having joined the Gunners back in 2010, so it’s no surprise that it seems like he’s been on the club’s books for a while now. Having made his competitive debut for Arsenal in the league cup back in 2012, he has gone on to make only a few appearances since. The Argentinean spent last season out on loan at Wolves in the Championship, but has now returned to Arsenal in hope of featuring more regularly for the Gunners.

Personally I quite like Martinez. He’s had a few shaky games in an Arsenal shirt, most notably that very memorable 7-5 cup win against Reading, but with such a weight on his shoulders at a young age, I thought there was still plenty of time and room for improvement. Sadly for the 23 year old, things have never really progressed and in current day, Martinez conceded against Lens before being withdrawn at half-time. Despite this I thought he seemed fairly safe stopping the ball from hitting the back of Arsenal’s net.

The main issue that Martinez has at Arsenal is that he is so far down the pecking order, that surely he must be considering his future at the club. Martinez is currently Arsenal’s fourth choice goalkeeper, third if you count one of Szczesny or Ospina to leave this summer. For a player who is soon to be 24 years old, he will want to be playing regular football and whilst he is unlikely to beat Ospina or Szczesny to the number two spot, Martinez has no hope in displacing first choice Petr Cech.

The same argument goes for Matt Macey, who played the second half in goal for Arsenal against Lens and Ryan Huddart, who has recently been sent out on loan. In the minds of all these young goalkeepers, surely they must be considering their futures at Arsenal, especially Martinez who has been at the club for six years with little progression towards becoming our first choice keeper.

Once again I reckon Martinez will end up going out on loan for the duration of the season, but surely there’s a point where The Gunners and Martinez will have to cut the losses between them and part ways.

By AH