Alan McInally has revealed that he remains baffled as to how and why Arsenal let Emiliano Martinez leave North London this past summer.
Aston Villa signed the want-away goalkeeper in a £20 million deal in September.
And so far, the Argentina stopper is proving a wonderful addition and even enjoyed a 3-0 win away to Arsenal just before the international break.
Martinez was a massive player for the Gunners toward the end of last season, helping them to an FA Cup title in the absence of the injured Bernd Leno.
But when Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta indicated that Leno would be getting the gloves back in spite of Martinez’s heroics, the South American opted to leave.
And Sky pundit McInally claims that his former club ‘basically stole’ him for that fee.
He told Football Index: “I cannot believe we have horseshoed him out of London. Emiliano Martinez is now Aston Villa goalkeeper and Arsenal will be thinking ‘who in God’s name sanctioned that?’.
“He’s a really good goalkeeper. I think you’ve already seen Aston Villa look a lot better [defensively]. What Aston Villa haven’t had in a long time is a top goalkeeper and I think Martinez is and with a bit of luck he’s going to prove we have basically stolen him for £20 million from Arsenal.”
You can see where McInally is coming from, but Arsenal still won’t be kicking themselves over this transfer.
Arteta and Edu wound up putting the £20 million toward the £45 million addition of Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid and despite Martinez’s form, Leno hasn’t exactly been awful for the Emirates Stadium side.
From Arsenal’s perspective, £20 million for a player who had only made 15 Premier League appearances for them is still a brilliant deal.
Even now, both clubs will be thinking that they got a bargain here – and both would probably be right.
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