Arsenal: Emiliano Martinez may and should have a future at the club

Emiliano Martinez has really impressed since filling in for the injured Bernd Leno. The Argentinian shot-stopper can and should have a future with Arsenal.

When Bernd Leno was cynically fouled and tragically injured by Brighton’s, Neal Maupay, Emiliano Martinez was abruptly promoted to Arsenal‘s starting lineup and he has filled in for the German goalkeeper.

Since being awarded the number one spot, the Argentine has done nothing to tarnish his reputation and thoroughly impressed. While it is fair to say that Leno is still the club’s best goalkeeper and it seems definite that he will regain his spot after his return, Martinez should still have a future with Arsenal Football Club.

Martinez has been registered to Arsenal for eight-years and has not had a lot of game time by any stretch of the imagination. Despite not being a poor goalkeeper, and furthermore, one that actually has a respectable amount of talent between the sticks, he has never really had a chance to display his abilities week in and week out at the club.

The 27-year-old has been loaned out six different times since 2012 and has just now been given the chance to be the club’s number two to the position. Now that Leno is injured, we have seen that Martinez is actually quite a good shot-stopper. For this reason and a long list of others, he deserves a future with the club.

For too long the reds of London have been cursed with either poor or average shot-stoppers. Now the gunners are blessed with two keepers with undeniable quality and should try to keep both and keep it that way.

Though Leno will certainly earn back his starting spot as I mentioned previously, Martinez should be kept due to his quality, but also for another reason. The two are polar opposites in terms of style. Many forget that the player who occupies the space between the posts can be expressive and goalies can and do have very different styles, respectively. While Leno specializes in short passing and tends to slap the ball away, like a typical modern-day keeper, Martinez prefers to play the ball long and opts for the catch like a more traditional one. Having two keepers who are completely different from each other will do nothing but help the club going into the future.

For example, if Arsenal plays a team like Sheffield United, who are a major threat from set-pieces, one could easily argue that Martinez is actually the better option on the day given his ability to nullify the danger a set-piece provides with his ability to catch the ball so effectively. On the contrary, if Arsenal is playing in a game where they prefer to dominate possession and play the ball out from the back, Leno is undoubtedly the better option given his tidy passing skills.

All in all, both Leno and Martinez have an abundance of talent and should both remain at the Emirates for the foreseeable future. While everyone knew of the talent that Leno possessed, few were aware of the abilities Martinez had in his locker. The two pressuring each other to perform will do nothing but solidify whomever it is deployed between the posts.

Competition is key in any given position and Martinez would provide that. The Argentine can and should have a future with Arsenal football club, let’s hope the powers that be and Martinez share that belief.