The Villains’ lively number one has committed his long term future to the club.
Header Image: via Aston Villa Football Club.
It feels like an age ago that Emi Martinez was squeezed out of a position as Arsenal’s number one.
Bernd Leno’s serious injury sustained away at Brighton during football’s lockdown resumption in June 2020 only ever really afforded the Argentine a temporary spot in the Gunners’ starting eleven. It was assumed that Leno would return to the number one spot upon his return from injury, and the crystal-ballers were right.
The German goalkeeper would make 35 appearances the following season in what was, on paper, a challenging campaign. Arsenal failed to qualify for any European competition for the first time since the 1994–95 season in Mikel Arteta’s first full season in charge.
Alex Runarsson had arrived from Dijon in the summer of 2020 as Leno’s new back up. As things turned out, Mathew Ryan would understudy Leno for the other three matches of that Premier League season, on loan from Brighton. It’s fair to say that Runarsson’s time at the Emirates was well… short, and not very sweet.
The Gunners’ goalkeeper department had perhaps naturally arrived at another transitional point - even if it was the club’s own decisions that had enforced this. Leno’s 2020/21 campaign had its ups and downs, though not to the point where he had seriously gained momentum on the previous year’s runner up spot for the Player of the Season trophy.
And, indeed, hindsight is a wonderful thing. If we are to use it, most would probably argue that neither Aaron Ramsdale nor David Raya would have been near the conversation to be Arsenal’s number one had Emi Martinez been instilled as number one at the Emirates at the backend of the summer in 2020.
Then again, by that logic, anything ever imaginable could have happened in the past five years. Those Hollywood narratives are not of our concern in this article, but rather, illustrating how, where luck didn’t seem to fall his way, Martinez’s path changed drastically for the better.
Within two years, Martinez had transformed himself into a World Cup winning goalkeeper - and perhaps Aston Villa’s best signing of the modern era. Given that, in November 2019, the Birmingham Mail claimed that Tom Heaton (who at the time had been at the club for three months) came in at eighth on their list of the club’s best signings since 2009, then Martinez’s impact surely ranks him highly on the club’s all time best signing list.
Whilst the Argentine had gone from (another) goodbye at Arsenal to getting his hands on the famous trophy in Qatar alongside Lionel Messi within only two years, we shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that Martinez rapidly found himself amongst the stars. No, Martinez was no overnight wonder. He was already 27 by the time he signed for Aston Villa, and had been out on loan five times in ten years.
Martinez’s new deal at Villa will see him contracted to the club until 2029, by which point he’ll be 36 years old. To the non-goalkeeper eye, a contract of that length may seem unusual, but Villa have tied their number one down in his prime. Martinez is exemplary of the difference in the developmental curve of the goalkeeper. It’s the position where maturity - in both physical and psychological terms - makes the biggest difference.
In the case of the Argentine, it was only during his loan spell at Reading in 2019 - then already 26 - that he seriously demonstrated the composure in both technique and situational demeanour that seemed to elude him in the earlier years of his career. See Messrs Pickford, Pope, and even, arguably, Raya.
Out of the current Premier League number ones, the mean average age is 30, and the modal average age is 31 - Martinez’s current age. He hasn’t lost that youthful joviality, but he has gained a way of channelling his natural South American vivacity on the pitch into a productive energy.
It is perhaps surprising that, despite his excellent statistical record in the Premier League and international exploits, Martinez hasn’t been seriously considered by any other top, top level outfit to come in and fill a goalkeeper gap. In recent years, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and - of course - Chelsea have all been on the hunt for new long-term number ones.
Of course, Aston Villa now rival several of those names after securing Champions League football last season. But, the point remains that it seems Martinez flourishes as something of an underdog. A challenger. It’s undisputed that Martinez is now one of the world’s elite, but he still plays the role of the slightly unfashionable gate crasher at the luxury London gentleman’s club.
Imagine the scene: Ederson, Alisson, ter Stegen, and Courtois arrive in sports jackets, chinos and loafers. Martinez pulls up in an ageing, loud, and smoky Chevrolet Corvette and dumps it parked horizontally amongst the Range Rovers and Bentleys. He struts through into the smoking room, World Cup golden glove in hand, in a hoodie and sunglasses.
He pops himself down in a rustic armchair, as the other four goalkeepers pop their heads over their assortment of newspapers. A wink, a grin, and lovingly sarcastic dig comprises his hello.
Point being, the Argentine thrives in the goalkeeper’s natural role - the denier of what football fans want to see most. Of course, all goalkeepers love stopping a striker, but what will perhaps propel Martinez to legendary status amongst the Villa faithful is his ability to revel fully in his moments of simultaneous heroism and villainy (if you’ll pardon the pun).
After all, Aston Villa don’t carry the Birmingham title in their name, but they reign comfortably over the blue half of the city on the pitch at present. Martinez fits that vibe.
But where he may be eccentric around the pitch, on the pitch that translates to an exceptional flair breathing fire and style into his shot-stopping technique. The Argentine has performed as one of the Premier League's top goalkeepers based on Goalkeeper xG data in multiple categories over the years.
His distributive qualities must not be underrated, nor his ability to deal with aerial balls. Moreover, Martinez’s presence from the penalty spot is a force to be reckoned with - as France and Colombia have found out for the worse in Argentina’s two recent international successes.
He undeniably lives for big moments, and makes ‘big’ saves. See Qatar, 2022.
It is Martinez’s eclectic balancing act of the pizzazz, the passion, and the point blank brilliance that sets him comfortably in the top-rated bracket for Goalkeeper A-Listers. In tying him down for the duration, Aston Villa have made a statement in terms of their intention to become a more permanent member at the Champions League table.
There are no other goalkeeper deals that have occurred this summer that, I predict, will increase the chance of continued success as significantly as this contract renewal. Continuity is just as important as change, and Villa have got it very, very right with Martinez so far.
Whatever future success Villa find over these next few seasons, their Argentine number one will be firmly at its root.
