Emi Martinez says that his goal is to consolidate his position at Arsenal, as well as reaching the Argentina national team, and that unless he gets enough game time in North London he’ll seek to move elsewhere.
It’s a message he’s sent before, but not with the kind of authority he can use now having taken his chance in the team due to Bernd Leno’s injury.
The 27 year old, who has been at Arsenal for 10 years, performed outstandingly well when the German was sidelined, and played a big part in helping the cup to a famous FA Cup win against Chelsea last weekend.
Speaking to radio station Continental in his home country, he reiterated his desire to play more regularly.
“I demonstrated to the club, that, that I can play and also when I return in the next season I need to play more games,” he said. “And that’s the only way that I will stay at Arsenal.
“I want more and I will not stop until I get what I want – to consolidate my place with Arsenal and to reach the national team as number one.
“If I don’t play for Arsenal I would clearly move on. I am not a conformist and I always want to advance in my career, so wherever I play more games I will go there.”
At his age, you can’t blame him, and after showcasing his talent after so long in the shadows in North London, you can also understand why he’s not willing to play the role of understudy anymore.
Emi sounded positive about what the future would bring though, after the cup success and as the club comes through a difficult period which saw the lowest league position in over 25 years.
“I think that now with the structure that there is, the new sports directors, new coach, next year we are going to be much better,” he said.
Let’s hope so.
Our information is that right now Arsenal want to keep both Emi and Bernd Leno, but if there’s a bid for one of them, they may consider it due to the financial situation.
At best though, we’ve got two excellent goalkeepers who will push each other for the number 1 position, and that can only be a good thing.
