Jamie Carragher has praised Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez, after swapping Arsenal for the West Midlands.
The 28-year-old goalkeeper joined Villa for £20 million last month and has since proven himself an early revelation under Dean Smith.
In fact, the Argentine, who was on Arsenal’s books for a decade, tops Sky Sports’ power rankings, ahead of the likes of Alisson for his early-season form, which includes a penalty save.
Martinez was instrumental in the Gunners’ heroics toward the end of last season after deputising for Bernd Leno from June onwards, helping them to an FA Cup title.
Here’s what Carragher thinks about the South American stopper:
He told Sky Sports: “I think he’s looked excellent for Arsenal. He was possibly the best No 2 in the Premier League. I always worry about backup goalkeepers because, what have they got about them? Who’s happy to sit on the bench?
“I thought it was going to be interesting when Leno came back, and how Mikel Arteta went about it. But, they got £20m for their second-choice goalie.”
In fairness to Arsenal, they aren’t missing Martinez and, as Carragher pointed, they picked up £20 million for their number two keeper.
They aren’t missing him because Leno produced a magnificent display in helping Mikel Arteta’s side into the quarter-final of the League Cup with a victory away to Liverpool on Thursday night.
The former Bayer Leverkusen stopper was, quite simply, immense, pulling off a string of top-drawer saves to help his team-mates into the next round.
The deal for Martinez looks like one of those transfers that all parties wind up really, really happy.
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