Arsenal: Don’t just write off Emiliano Martinez

Emiliano Martinez has reportedly returned to preseason training at Arsenal early to try and impress Unai Emery. Do not just write off the 25-year-old for the back-up goalkeeping role.

Arsenal have made moves at the goalkeeping position: Brend Leno has arrived in a £20 million deal to take the number one jersey off of Petr Cech. It remains to be seen what the fallout will be from his arrival, but there will undoubtedly be one.

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One of Petr Cech and David Ospina will leave this summer. If all stay, assuming that Unai Emery rates them similarly to how Arsene Wenger did last season, Cech will be demoted to the reserve role and Ospina will be third-choice. Neither will be especially happy with that.

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Perhaps, then, there is another solution to the problem that also provides Arsenal with greater flexibility in the transfer window throughout the summer: promote Emiliano Martinez to the back-up role and sell both Ospina and Cech.

The now 25-year-old has impressed in limited appearances up until this point but was sent out on loan last season with game time looking slim due to the ever-presence of Cech and Ospina. Indeed, had Martinez stayed, he would have seen few opportunities to play.

The problem is that he didn’t really play at Getafe, where he was placed on loan last season, starting just five La Liga games all year. Nevertheless, Martinez is back in north London and is reporting early for preseason training to impress Emery. He should not be overlooked for that back-up role.

It is quite conceivable that Emery rates Martinez highly. He does have talent. He is tall, good in the air, a solid shot-stopper and has, as almost all young goalkeepers do nowadays, excellent distribution. And in promoting Martinez to the reserve role, Emery would be able to engineer some funds to invest in other areas of the pitch.

Selling Cech and Ospina could quite conceivably raise as much as £20 million. That could help fund a move for Caglar Soyuncu, a player that Arsenal have pursued all summer, all help recruit another central midfielder or top-class winger.

The possibility of having a young, talented reserve to support and challenge Leno is a positive one. It will help both the development of Martinez and will push Leno, who will be aware of the possibility of losing his place in the starting XI. Add to that the extra funds that it will provide and, suddenly, Martinez as the reserve goalkeeper is becoming a very promising scenario.

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Ultimately, this all depends on Emery’s evaluation of Martinez. That will not be known until the summer begins to unfold. But there are external reasons to push Martinez into that role that make a lot of sense. Do not just write him off as a guaranteed departee.