Emiliano Martinez shares text he sent to ‘great leader’ Arteta

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Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has told The Independent that he sent Mikel Arteta a text message pleading to let him join Aston Villa.

Martinez joined Villa over the summer, and made his first return to Arsenal on Sunday night as Villa made the trip to the Emirates Stadium.

The 28-year-old managed to keep a clean sheet in a superb performance, as Villa hammered Arsenal 3-0 with a stunning display.

Whilst Bernd Leno was picking the ball out of the net, Martinez was celebrating a strong defensive display and a joyous return to North London.

Martinez spent 10 years at Arsenal but only became first-choice when Leno went down with an injury in June, and he certainly impressed under Arteta.

However, he was relegated back to the bench when Leno made his return, and he decided it wasn’t good enough for him anymore after a stint of first-team action.

Martinez now claims that he sent a text to Arteta begging to be let go, suggesting that he didn’t want to be waiting around until the night before games to find out if he would be playing or not.

The Argentinian added that he thinks Arteta is a ‘great leader’, praising him for being ‘very honest’ with him and helping him leave the club for his £20million move to Villa.

“Even before the Community Shield he didn’t know who was going to play in goal. After 10 years at the club I didn’t want to wait until Friday night, the day before the game, to know whether I was going to play against Fulham or not,” said Martinez. “So I just text him to say I was going to Aston Villa, so please help me and let me go.”

“He was very honest and very open with me. He helped me to leave the club after so many years. I’ve already said how grateful I am for that and how pleased I am about how well he is doing at Arsenal. I’m so happy he is the leader of the club. Obviously I have ambitions and he couldn’t help the ambitions that I wanted, so we had a clear conversation. He’s a very honest man and a great leader for this football club,” he added.