With Argentina set to play Croatia in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday evening, it’s no surprise to see a lot of coverage about Emiliano Martínez.
The goalkeeper, now at Aston Villa, spent a fair chunk of his career at Arsenal, where he developed through the odd game for the Gunners, as well as a number of loans.
The 30-year-old was bought by the Emirates side all the way back in 2010 from Independiente in Argentina for a fee of €1.5m, before being sent out to, in order, Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham, Wolves, Getafe and Reading.
It’s the last one that really put him on the map, which is when Aston Villa came along and paid Arsenal €17.4m for his services and never looked back.
It was an unconventional route to being a starting goalkeeper in the Premier League and being his country’s hero in both a World Cup and the Copa América, but it was one he will not regret.
Still, the switch to England was a tough one for the then young goalkeeper, as explained by Angel Santoro, his mentor at Independiente, who spoke to L’Equipe.
He said: “Arsenal scouts offered him to come and have a trial. I went with him and he was taken. He was scared: new country, new language. I told him it was an opportunity.”
What happened next, most people know, but all this time, the goalkeeper had one aim in his mind, which he has now achieved.
Santoro added: “When I took him at Independiente aged 13, his dream was to defend the goal of the national team. It’s a great pride to see that he’s managed it.”
