Ever since the World Cup, and perhaps even before that, it seems you can’t escape a story about Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
The Argentine stopper never seems to be out of the limelight these days, with every man and his dog either commenting on him or the Villa number one doing something.
While that is slightly frustrating, the reality is that it is because Martinez is currently one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, having shone for Aston Villa and Argentina over the last few years.
That naturally brings a lot of attention and media coverage and the latest to share his anecdotes on the Aston Villa man is scout Pablo Budna.
He’s the man who first spotted Martinez as a youngster in Argentina, recommending him to Arsenal and initiating contact between them and Independiente.
Arsenal eventually signed him in a €1.5m deal in 2010, with Martinez going on to spend eight years at the Emirates, albeit with most of that spent out on loan.
Things never really worked out for Martinez with the Gunners, as he managed just 38 appearances for them in total before swapping Arsenal for Aston Villa in a €17.4m deal in September 2020.
That, though, doesn’t mean they weren’t keen on him, with Budna revealing what Arsene Wenger told the goalkeeper during his time at the club.
“We had him marked before and at the South American Championship one of my bosses in London saw him. He phoned me and they told me that they wanted to give him a trial,” Budna told TN in Argentina.
“Santoro, his agent, an assistant of his and I travelled. As soon as we arrived he started training with the first team and the goalkeeping coach. The decision to buy him was made, but they always evaluated him before putting up the money.
“It’s clear to me that the best thing he has is his head. He spent years training for this moment. On a psychological level he is very strong. He sees every training session as a final.
“The perseverance he has… you know what happens? You know what happens? He’s pure logic. His case is logical. And in Argentina they don’t understand logic at all. They don’t understand the processes, the time it takes to develop a player.
“Arsenal never let him go. Arsene Wenger, DT of the team, told him ‘you go and come back’ before giving him on loan. They just wanted him to get more play abroad.
“They really liked the way he hit the ball, which was very South American, but which hadn’t been seen for a long time.
“A goalkeeper requires a certain physical presence, to be over 1.90 metres tall. We watched him and we noticed that Emiliano had incredible leg power. Then, we saw his winning mentality when we gave him that 10-day test in London.”
