Report details Emi Martinez’s international desire as major reason for Arsenal exit

Arsenal goalkeeper Emi Martinez is set to leave the club, with a move to Aston Villa reportedly as good as done. 

Football.London report that a fee in the region of £20 million has been agreed and only final formalities have to be finalised before an agreement is announced. 

Martinez has been in fine form for Arsenal recently, after stepping in for the injured Bernd Leno. 

However, the German remains Arsenal’s number one and Martinez decided now was the time to leave and play regular football elsewhere. 

Of course, plenty of Arsenal fans are disappointed to see Martinez leave, but understand his reasoning. That is even more prevalent when you consider Goal’s reported reasoning for Martinez’s exit.

They claim that the stopper is desperate to break into Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina side and he has the potential to become the Albiceleste’s number one goalkeeper. 

At present, the 28-year-old is still waiting for his first Argentina cap, having played mostly on loan or as a back-up stopper throughout his career. 

He has previously received call-ups in 2011 and October last year but is now set on making his mark with his country, at a surprisingly late age. 

To do so, he will need to move ahead of the likes of Juan Musso of Udinese, Agustin Marchesin of Porto, and Esteban Andrada of Boca Juniors, as well as holding off the challenges of Paulo Gazzaniga and Geronimo Rulli. 

Whilst Martinez could have stayed and remains Arsenal’s cup keeper, it clearly would not have been enough to win over the Argentina management and become a regular in the national team.

The hope is, being a regular at Aston Villa will give him the chance to finally get that elusive national cap, nine years after his first senior call-up.

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