Speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, Ian Wright has lavished praise upon ex-Arsenal player Emiliano Martinez, claiming that he’s now worth a lot more than the Gunners got for him this summer.
The Argentine stopper swapped the Emirates for Villa Park this summer in a deal worth around £20 million, but Wright believes Edu and Arsenal didn’t get a good deal for him.
Wright was naming his Premier League Team of the Season so far, and he picked the ex-Arsenal man as his number one.
“The thing with Emi is, I always look at players like that, he’s 26, 27, and he’s just said ‘I’m leaving’, it’s about me, and I admire that,” Wright said.
“I think that, even though towards the end I went to Burnley and I went to Scotland because it was a great experience to go to Scotland at that stage of my career, but during the meat and bones of my career, I don’t think I would have had that in me to say I’m leaving.”
“You have to admire that, now look at him, he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League,”
Wright went on to speak about how Martinez would have found it hard to become number one at Arsenal because of Bernd Leno’s quality, before concluding that Arsenal got a bad deal.
“In the end, the money we got for him, you had to take, but he’s worth a lot more than that now.”
It’s really hard to disagree with this view.
The fact that Martinez has kept more clean sheets that Bernd Leno at the Emirates this season after leaving the club in the summer tells you all you need to know.
Martinez has been a revelation at Aston Villa, and week in, week out he is proving that he is more than just a flash in the pan, after finding the form of his life towards the end of last season at Arsenal.
Wright is spot on, Martinez is now worth a lot more than Arsenal sold him for.
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