Aston Villa have placed a second bid for Emi Martinez, but Arsenal will only let the goalkeeper leave if they can sign a replacement first.

The Athletic report that Aston Villa recently submitted a second bid for Emi Martinez. Martinez wants the chance to be number one at a club, whether that’s Arsenal or elsewhere, and we don’t know if that will be possible if he stays for this season.

For Villa’s part, they’re much closer to matching Arsenal’s £20m asking price, according to the report. They can also certainly offer Martinez a starting spot. But Arsenal won’t let the goalkeeper leave if they don’t have a replacement.

The Gunners want David Raya of Brentford, but the Championship club don’t want to sell. That makes things difficult.

If Arsenal are going to sell Martinez, I’d rather see them bring in a goalkeeper on loan. Someone who can plug the backup spot for a season whilst we invest in the midfield.

There are some talented young goalkeepers in the academy right now, particularly Arthur Okonkwo and Karl Hein. They aren’t ready for first-team action right now, but if Arsenal can delay for a year or two with loans, they could step up after that.

In the meantime, the club still have Bernd Leno to act as the first-choice keeper. So that’s one way around the issue if Martinez is desperate to leave and Brentford won’t sell Raya.

Alternatively, I’d just keep Leno and Martinez. They can continue pushing each other on and we’ll just have to find some other way to fund signings.