The former West Ham United defender was discussing his son’s transfer from Millwall on Monday.
Alvin Martin has told Talksport he was ‘blown away’ when he heard of West Ham United’s interest in his son, David.
West Ham confirmed Martin Jnr’s arrival on a two-year contract earlier on Monday, with his deal at rivals Millwall due to expire this summer.
The move sees the goalkeeper return to the club at which he spent part of his youth, and comes 23 years after his dad’s last game for the Hammers.
And although ‘over the moon’ with how things have transpired, Martin Snr is aware of the challenge ahead.
“I think it’s a terrific opportunity,” he said. “Dave’s under no illusions. (The West Ham goalkeeper, Lukasz) Fabianski, I think, was up there with the most consistent goalkeepers in the Premier League last year – many people would have said he was the most.
“They’ve got another excellent goalkeeper (Roberto) coming in as number two and Dave will be number three. But knowing David, he’ll go in there, he’ll be very professional and he’ll push both goalkeepers as hard as he can.”
Martin Snr is not the player’s only connection to West Ham, whose goalkeeper coach, Xavi Valero, he worked with at Liverpool.
And his father added: “Xavi, the goalkeeper coach, he worked with at Liverpool when Pepe Reina was, you know, a magnificent goalkeeper. So I think Dave’s looking forward to going back and working with Xavi who’s been a tremendous influence on his career, and obviously must take some of the credit for Fabianski this year.”
33-year-old Martin moved to Millwall from Milton Keynes Dons in 2017 and finally established himself as number one towards the end of last season.
And he is not the only senior shot-stopper leaving Millwall this summer, with Jordan Archer and Ben Amos already allowed to depart.
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