Nigel Winterburn admitted on Stadium Astro that Arsenal made a mistake selling the ‘outstanding’ Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa last summer.
After ending last season on a high, including helping Arsenal win the FA Cup and Community Shield, Martinez opted to make the switch to Villa Park to search for regular game time.
And whilst Leno made a costly error on Friday night against Everton, his former teammate is thriving in Claret and Blue colours over in B6, with 14 clean sheets to his name this season – Leno has nine.
Winterburn shared his thoughts on the situation Mikel Arteta found himself in with Martinez and Leno, and how the Villa man ‘surprised a lot of people’.
“He was outstanding,” said Winterburn. “Some of the saves that he made were unbelievable then Arteta has to make a decision.
“I think the GK’s are saying ‘I want to be your number one’ and, to me, not one of them was prepared to sit on the bench. His hand was forced – at that time, I don’t think there was a massive difference between the two GK’s.
On Arteta making a mistake by letting Martinez go: “If you are someone who just looks at stats then, yes, you have to say that. I would potentially agree with you if you looked at the form of Emi when he was in the team. It was unbelievable.
“He was never given a real opportunity. And I think he surprised a lot of people. I just wonder if Arteta thought ‘can he keep that level of performance up, week in and week out?’.
“Maybe he was surprised by what the (Emi) achieved and thought he couldn’t quite believe he could continue that form. I agree because he has been outstanding for Aston Villa.”
Arteta had no choice but to part ways with either Leno or Martinez because both wanted first-team football.
So, at the time, he either sticks with the guy who had performed at a high and consistent level for 18 months, or someone who had come in for a few months and impressed fans.
But it hasn’t been easy for Leno, who has had to play in an Arsenal team struggling this season and with a defence that is all over the place.
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