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Emiliano Martinez has revealed he pleaded with Mikel Arteta to let him leave Arsenal in a text message before joining Aston Villa in the transfer window.
Martinez has been a revelation since joining Villa on the opening weekend of the season and kept a clean sheet as his new club beat the Gunners 3-0 on Sunday to move up to sixth in the Premier League .
It was the fourth shutout of the campaign for the 28-year-old so far – which will come as no surprise to Arsenal fans after he impressed by replacing Bernd Leno in the football restart this summer.
After Leno was injured against Brighton in June, Martinez put on a string of flawless performances and was a hero in the Gunners’ FA Cup success.
It became clear that Arteta wouldn’t be able to keep the two keepers happy as they both wanted to be No.1 – and many fans felt it should have been Leno getting sold rather than Martinez.
(Image: Pool via REUTERS)
But the Argentine has moved to Villa for around £ 20million – and his decision to leave looks good so far with Dean Smith’s side at European places while Arsenal are in the bottom half of the table.
Now Martinez has lifted the lid on his conversation with Arteta on the eve of the season opener, when he told his manager he wanted to move to the Midlands club.
Martinez said: “I told him I wanted to play week after week and he couldn’t guarantee who was going to start.
“Even before the Community Shield he didn’t know who was going to play on goal. I just wanted to play first-team football and Arsenal couldn’t guarantee that.
(Image: Swimming pool 2020)
“After 10 years at the club, I didn’t want to wait until Friday night, the day before the game, to see if I was going to play against Fulham or not.
“So I just texted him to tell him I was going to Aston Villa, so help me and let me go.”
Martinez got nothing but praise for the way Arteta handled his request, saying, “He was very honest and very open with me. He helped me quit the club after so many years.
“I have already said how grateful I am for this and how happy I am with his performances at Arsenal. I am so happy that he is the club leader.”
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