When you think of Arsene Wenger’s final few years at Arsenal, it’s often a tale of what could have been.
The French manager was synonymous with players he almost signed or youngsters that should’ve made the grade but didn’t.
However, despite being one of the greatest managers ever, Wenger wasn’t immune to the odd mistake or two.
Letting Serge Gnabry leave the club was, in hindsight, a huge blunder, and now, it looks like another of Wenger’s biggest mistakes has been exposed – not giving Emi Martinez a chance.
The Argentine has propelled himself into superstardom this week after winning the World Cup Golden Glove and making himself the hero in the shootout, and these performances only serve to raise the question, why did Martinez only play six league games in seven seasons under Wenger?
Wenger must’ve seen something in the South American to keep him on the Gunners’ books for that long without selling him, but now, in hindsight, failing to give him a chance seems like a horrendous miscue.
Around that time, Arsenal were struggling for goalkeeping solutions, Wojciech Szczesny was falling out of favour, while David Ospina was wildly inconsistent, and yet, the Gunners had a future World Cup-winner just rotting in their reserves.
Of course, it’s not always easy to spot the potential that lies within a certain player, and Martinez may not have been showing enough in training to warrant first-team chances, but with the history books now written, it’s hard to say that Wenger’s handling of this world-class talent was anything other than a mistake.
In another world, Arsenal could now be lining up with the likes of Gnabry, Martinez and Ismael Bennacer in their squad, but sadly, due to a lack of faith in youngsters at a certain point, these three have gone on to become stars elsewhere.
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