The Independent reports that Arsenal has reluctantly agreed to sell Emiliano Martinez this summer as the Argentinean insists that he will only stay if he is guaranteed playing time.
He got his chance in the Arsenal goal when Bernd Leno got injured in June and he shone brightly for the Gunners. He was in goal as the Gunners won the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield.
Leno has now returned to full fitness and much of the talks around the Emirates this summer have been about who will be the club’s first choice.
The Gunners have decided to side with Leno and they are prepared to sell Martinez who has strong interest from Aston Villa.
The Midlands side narrowly escaped relegation from the Premier League last season and they want to avoid that kind of trouble in the coming campaign.
They have been in talks with the Gunners and the reports add that they have already tabled a bid of around £15m, but Arsenal wants £20m.
The Gunners wanted to keep him, but Leno is set to return in goal against Fulham and they are now negotiating a transfer for Martinez with the Villans.
If this deal goes through you have to think that there will be quite a few Arsenal fans that will not be best pleased.
The Guardian says, “Martínez has been in talks with Arsenal over a new contract but the parties are some way apart, with Villa and Brighton both ready to dwarf the salary on offer.”
How embarrassing for us if true. I hope we at least insert a sell-on clause if we sell our best keeper and longest serving player. 20M could look incredibly cheap in a year’s time…
It’s not possible to keep two very very very good goalkeepers at one club unless they are paid obscene wages. I would’ve have been happy with either of them staying as each is as good as the other.
Since the club have chosen Leno I support Martinez choice to leave as he is too good for the bench. I wish him all the best. He was given the chance and he took it. He has earned himself a starter claim and we are getting a decent fee for him, a win win for both parties. Were it not for his outstanding performances these past few months his value would’ve been much lower.
man u manage to hold their 2 best gk why not us
No man utd have given a new contract to a YOUNG gk who look likely to take over from de gea who looks finished at the top level. Our problem is different because both gks are 28 and in their prime so they want to play especially martinez who has been a backup gk for far too long. If only he was 22/23 things would have been different.
The club did not choose Leno according to Arteta’s interview today, he said he’ll start whoever is playing better as it is the same with other positions. Martinez will start tomorrow, the ball is in martinez court, not Arsenal’s, he can’t be afraid of competing with Leno, the club offered a new contract to reward for his recent performances. He should stay and fight for the shirt.
Kstix, we will all be waiting with bated breath to see the team sheet. If Leno starts, rather than having to earn his place back, then Martinez is gone.
If that is the case ozziegunner then I agree with you
Strange that Martinez didn’t get his chances before but he certainly took them after Leno’s injury and was so impressive. I thought Leno’s injury was a disaster after what had been a thoroughly awful season, but Martinez hasn’t put a foot wrong
“Not best pleased”! That is what is known as the understatement of the century Ad Martin.
TO LET A PLAYER OF THAT QUALITY LEAVE FOR A PALTRY £20 MILL, WHILST KRONKE SITS ON HIS RANCH WORTH THREE QUARTERS OF A BILLION DOLLARS, SHOWS HOW SICK THAT OWNER ACTUALLY IS! A scandal!
He won’t be in goal tomorrow,
It’ll be Leno, I guarantee it.
Also, this statement
“The Gunners have decided to side with Leno and they are prepared to sell Martinez ” is making it look like the club chose to Let go of him.
We all saw Arteta com out publicly saying he wants both GK to stay and fight for the spot.
Martinez is choosing to leave because he’s not guaranteed the number 1 shirt.
Then again, Leno isn’t guaranteed the number 1 shirt either if we’re being honest, all Martinez had to do was stay, and cement his spot, fight for it every week, but he wants assurance to be the first choice GK.
I support whatever the club chose to do.
Also, it’s the same Martinez that begged the club to accept half of 20M for him if the offer comes because he wants to leave.
Also Jon you call 20M paltry?
Nobody would offer 30M and above for a goalkeeper with less than 60 EPL games to his belt.
4 months ago, before Leno’s injury, everyone would be screaming take the money and run if we were offered 5M for Martinez.
Fans are only being reactionary, making it look like the club chose to get rid of Martinez, when the truth remains he doesn’t want to stay because Arteta won’t give in to his demand.
I haven’t read Arteta saying Martinez won’t get his chance or he’ll play second fiddle, and I’m sure you haven’t read that either.
All we’ve read is Arteta saying he wants both players to stay and he’s not interested in keeping anybody happy out of the two.
That’s pretty simple IMHO.
If you want it, fight for it every week, every match day, not ask to be the guaranteed starter
I don’t think any coach would come out and say things such as “He wouldn’t get his chance to play”……. I believe this whole deal could be handled better, all it requires is being tactful in the negotiations and making some compromises. Like I’ve said on a previous thread, offering him a much better pay (better than Aston Villa’s offer at least), leaving the no. 1 spot open, as well as rotation (one for cup games, and one for league), would see Martinez stay…… but then, if it’s true that he doesn’t even want to fight for his spot, it’s all good if he leaves then.
Now let’s welcome Fulham back to the league with a sound beating 😀😀 (even though I kinda like them……. I wish them success against all other top teams) 😀
Read that he is not in the squad for tomorrow’s game. Looks like he is going to leave. I am really disappointed by this turn of event. I thought he was going to start tomorrow! Stupid of Arsenal to let him leave for a paltry 20M, but come to think of it we always sell below market value, and tend to overpay when we buy. I believe we will come to regret this. We let Sczesny go to Juventus where he is the starter for 10M, Fabianski for free. Leno is a very good shot stopper who does not command his box, flaps at crosses, dodgy distribution. And yet he is just being put back in goal after coming back from injury. I am really disappointed.
How is 20 million below martinez value, a second choice goalkeeper for that matter, the 3rd most expensive goalkeeper in the world is ederson and he cost man city 35 million, if we sell martinez for 20 million then that makes him the 8th most expensive goalkeeper in the world(the most expensive backup goalkeeper sold i guess)
Its nobodies fault if martinez decides to leave, Arteta said it every player in Arsenal is now on reset, they all have equal opportunity, Martinez wants to be assured he is number, which the club said its not possible given Arteta’s decision above. Martinez wants to be Argentina number keeper, so for me 20 million is not a bad amount for a goalkeeper with far less experience, dont forget we saw the best of him when our defence became more organise under Arteta, Leno was virtually our best player when we had leaky defence earlier on, we are working on having backup in place before selling him. I support the board on this. Its not about the money for Martinez but about been number.
Spot on Eddie, I was just saying basically the same thing in a reply to HH above.
I agree with your sentiments Eddie. why would Martinez want to leave when none of them is guaranteed a start? Baffling decision if you ask me. If MA is sincere then Emi has the upper hand rn till he screws up and gets replaced by Leno.
True
I see it as Mikel Arteta not being ductated too, personally.
No player should / could demand anything and then seem to get it.
I believe, on present form, Martinez shouldn’t be No. 1 and I will be very disappointed to see him leave.
He has been a loyal servant to the club and I wish him well… if he does leave of course!
I wouldn’t be surprised if he played against Fulham, such is the Arteta mystery 🤔
BLOODY SPELL CHECK!!!!
Martinez should be No. 1 and “dictated to”.
Just read in the Guardian that Martinez is not in the squad for tomorrow.
Don’t know how they have seen it, so we will be able to judge their credibility tomorrow.
It states the reason being “ongoing transfer talks”.
There’s at least three versions coming out. One claims new contract so he might stay, the second claims he’s off to Brighton ’cause their deal is a significant improvement on the villa one. then there’s the Villa story, again villa are said to be exploring other options. Guess we’ll have to seat and watch how this circus plays out. If Emi doesn’t fancy his chances in the fight for first team football, then he should be granted his wish.
*sit
I agree with Highbury Hero…CDYG (Calm Down)..this is a good business decision. There is very little difference between the two keepers, and provided Arsenal are able to significantly improve the squad by re-investing the proceeds from this transaction, it will be a win-win for everyone involved. I know many fans will be annoyed by this tough decision, but the overall impact on the squad will be very positive.
Sensible words…
But if they had to sell one, surely they’d get more money for Leno? Surely that would be better business?
If we have to sell one it has to be Leno. Seems like a great person and a very good goalkeeper, but Martinez was imho a level above last season. I see no reason why he would suddenly become poor this season. Whereas I can’t see Leno start playing out from the back confidently and picking nice passes that set up swift counter attacks.
Selling Martinez would be a mistake I hope we don’t make. We’ve made enough mistakes recently.
What part of the last season, is it before football got suspended or after restart because i could remember this same martinez conceded 5 against Liverpool reserve n nobody was saying how good he is then or saying he should be number 1 only for luck to present itself after restart and he did well. If he cant fight for the number 1 spot then i personally wish him all the best wherever life takes him(imagine him saying arsenal should allow him leave for half the 20 million we are asking for)
Arteta is our messiah he has done well all blame should go to our useless senseless kronike that refused to invest heavily in to arsenal fc if arsenal can retain Leno and Martinez buying partey and Aouar retain maitland Neil’s and bellerin retain our best striker Auba sky will be our limit
I feel sad
EMI leaving?
Martinez has been everything to AFC that Ozil hasnt a top guy and a top player.
Leno is number 1 so let Emi go to Villa with our best wishes and thankyou mate.
do not say. For Emi to have kept 9 clean sheets in just 13 games, he is better
Here we go! Couldn’t let us be happy, could ya? Just when we put together what could be our best defensive side in over a decade, we consider selling Martinez and Bellerin 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
In my opinion, Martinez looks twice the goalkeeper Leno is. I support Leno and rate him, but why oh why??? For 20 million??? And right on the doorstep of the season kickoff 🤦♂️🤦♂️ Really hope this isn’t true
Am actually flabbergasted by this news..Too cheap for a goalkeeper like Martinez
Don’t get it. Surely if they need to sell one, Leno would bring in more money, and I don’t see any area in which Leno is clearly better than EM, whereas EM is clearly better at taking crosses and with the ball at his feet.
The only way I can see this is that, maybe there’s a reason no manager took a chance on EM in the past? Something we haven’t seen yet. Otherwise, based on what we’ve seen over the past few months, we didn’t even need to buy Cech.
👍
Drayton, while not disagreeing with your comments, if we kept Martinez against his wishes, how would that pan out?
His reported demand that he has to be No. 1 and play regularly, just cannot be justified… Leno, on the other hand has held a dignified silence.
Arteta, in my opinion, will not be dictated to by anyone… it seems Martinez has brought this on himself by his demands.
A great shame.
Good point Ken. Am interested to hear more on this story in the coming days. Martinez clearly seems to be the no 1 keeper right now, so it’s odd that he’d make that demand if he had any semblance of confidence in his abilities. I’ll still hold out hope that this isn’t true, but if it is, enjoy playing behind that flailing Villa defense 😂😂
👍 Ken.
Dayton, it will be interesting to see to see how many points Martinez saves, whichever club he goes to.
I wish a loyal servant of Arsenal all the best for his future career.
Exactly Drayton, he is No 1 right now, it’s Leno who has to work his way back into the team. quite a baffling decision to demand what he already has and is guaranteed if he keeps performing. Very weird decision considering how hard he’s fought over the years and then he’s just gonna give up without a fight? SMH
I would personally start Martinez over Leno tomorrow. The guy holds on to anything that comes his way. He doesn’t punch the ball. If anything, the Arsenal defense has been much calmer under Arteta with Emi in goal than with Leno there. If its about strengthening the squad, I reckon Leno would go for more than Martinez. Why can’t we ask for £30 million for Leno, take Bravo as our no 2 on a free and keep Emi as a number one?
Martinez has only played a handful of games and everybody thinks he is the best keeper in the league now. Yes he played well when he stood in for Leno but that doesn’t give him the right to demand that he plays every week. How about all the games Leno played well in before his injury, doesn’t that count for anything. It’s a shame he might be sold as it would have been good to have 2 great keepers.
Okay, I know out of respect for Leno, and support for the club, many are reluctant to say it but I will, “Leno is a very good keeper, but Martinez is hands down better”. Martinez hands got crazy glue, the guys catches everything, he’s more commanding in his area and super cool with the ball at his feet. Even before this post lockdown run of games, when ever I saw him between the sticks in the cup games, I always thought he was top quality……. personally, I think he should be our #1……..it hurts to see him linked with a transfer to another, and if he does go I’ll be shattered.
I agree with everything you said Daniel but he chooses to leave. After the fa cup heroics, he has been in news saying he can’t stay in arsenal and be a number 2 even when Leno still injured and recuperating and the coach has not decided who will be his no 1. What does that tell you about his attitude. I don’t know if that is financial motivated or he is just scared to compete all I know his neither Villa nor Brighton can pay him more than us. Media saying they are offering more is PR stunt.
with the contraly point of view from the fans concerning LENO & EM all are good GK at a moment but LENO are more than EM in angle 90.
Arsenal fans get upset easily and that makes me laugh. The boy had like a good one month of football in 6 years and suddenly started making demands. He was the reason why we got Chech and the reason we got Leno because he had not convinced our coaches he was a capable number one then. (aged 23-25)One even said he has been everything Ozil is not and that sound so silly….because Martinez has been here 10 years and has 7 years to make claim to be number 1 and now that he had the opportunity to fight and lay claim for the spot he chickens out. My response is not about him but about the fans that blame the club for everything and these people need reminding that without injury to Leno this would never happen and we won’t get 10m for him as well. So I will thank him for making us that money and wish him good luck
Martinez has always been a very good goalkeeper as I have watched all his previous cameo appearences. I always wondered why we didn’t give him a chance. Arteta is the problem in my view. He trusts players like Luiz who make mistakes day in and out whilst Sokratis is deemed not good enough. If Martinez is guaranteed a good number of games he will stay. He might have seen during training that is not going to happen. After ten years of sticking with the club if they can’t give him the jersey he must go. Rhe guy is too good to let go and I hope he won’t end up at Spurs, City, etc. The whole issue if true shows a high level of poor management. How can we pay less than Villa and Brighton? Clubs like Chelsea are struggling to get a good number 1 yet we are giving away one. Teams like Utd have two good keepers and they keep them happy with a good salary and good number of games. With a minimum of about 50 games each season surely the coach must guarantee games.
I pray this decision doesn’t bounce back. Prefer Martinez to Leno.
Arsenal fans are probably the most deluded fans I have seen.
Martinez has just managed a handful of matches and we are clamouring he is all of a sudden better than Leno.
Why is it that small teams are coming for him and no big team is?
Chelsea needs a goalkeeper, if Emi is what we claim he is why are they not showing interest in him?
Emi is good but not in anyway as good as Leno, he should have been played under unai, under that crisis, let’s see what would have happened.
You guys all of a sudden forgot how many points Leno saved us when below average teams were having filled days playing against us. Let me remind you we were so in deep mess that we faced a whopping 32 shots against Watford.
Check who was topping the save stats before his injury.
Emi came when the about to capsize boat had been steadied and performed, and he is all of a sudden better than Leno.
Leno please don’t mind this deluded fans.
He is a great shot stopper and he saved us plenty of points last season for sure but that’s a weird stat to pick out. He could have conceded 500 goals and still had the most saves in the league because it relates to how many shots he’s faced
I don’t think any team whether big or small (including Chelsea) has shown interest in Leno. Is Leno therefore, not what we claim he is?
Why do we spend so much time debating on “fake news”? Come this afternoon, Emi will be in goal and maybe we start another news of Laca going to Barca.
I trust Arteta on this. Leno did look good playing out from the back today.