Emi Martinez has confirmed he’s preparing for pre-season with Arsenal, amid speculation surrounding his future in North London.
Nine years and six loans after he moved from Club Atletico Independiente to the Arsenal academy, it looks like Emi Martinez might finally get a chance to fight for the number one spot in North London.
At 26 years old, Martinez’s Arsenal career looked to be winding down towards the end of 2018. None of his loan spells had earned him more than 15 appearances, and his most recent had seen him start just six games in the entire 2017/18 season.
That all changed with the goalkeeper’s excellent loan spell with Reading. Finally, Martinez got a chance to start games regularly, and he took full advantage.
The Argentine keeper made more saves and more high claims per 90 minutes than any other goalkeeper in the Championship (minimum 10 appearances), whilst maintaining an excellent save percentage of 77% throughout his loan.
With Petr Cech and David Ospina seemingly set to depart, Martinez only has Leno for competition at Arsenal now. Martinez insisted in April that he wants certain assurances before he’ll commit next season to the Gunners, but his recent Instagram post suggests he’s now preparing for pre-season with the club.
It would certainly help Arsenal out to resolve the issue of replacing the departing goalkeepers without having to spend any money, and Martinez has earned his opportunity.