During Mikel Arteta’s first half-season in charge, Martinez showed solid form, stepping in as the starting goalkeeper and proving himself capable of being the club’s number one. His performances even led some Arsenal fans to believe he was better than Bernd Leno, who was the club’s first-choice goalkeeper at the time.
However, in the summer of 2020, Arteta made the decision to sell Martinez and stick with Leno as Arsenal’s main goalkeeper—a decision that, in hindsight, seems questionable. Since joining Aston Villa, Martinez has excelled, becoming one of the Premier League’s top goalkeepers.
Most recently, he kept a clean sheet for Villa in their match against Bayern Munich, a performance that led legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel to remark that Arsenal must now view Martinez as “one that got away.” His success at Villa suggests that Arsenal may have underestimated his long-term value.
Schmeichel said, as quoted by Metro Sport:
‘Martinez, I think he has proven Arsenal wrong, for sure.
‘I think he’s a big personality and I think he’s helping that team [Villa] a lot.
‘Will he be able to do the job at Man City? I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t know.
‘But he’s a winner, obviously a World Cup winner, he’s just won the Copa [America]. So he’s getting there as well.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
Martinez has done well at Villa, but he could have struggled if we had kept him and we made a good fee from selling him.
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