Argentinian has arguably been the league’s best goalkeeper since the season resumed and he now has an FA Cup final against Chelsea to look forward to
Emiliano Martínez had seen his loved ones at their lowest ebb and it made his decision for him. He had not seriously expected his trial at Arsenal to be much more than work experience, the kind that might come in useful when a European move called more loudly. There would be plenty of time for that, given he had barely turned 17 and was making strides at Independiente, but then came another call from London and he had to grit his teeth.
“In my mind, there was no way I was going to leave my family,” Martínez says of that initial trip. “It was not a poor, poor background but my family struggled a lot in financial terms. I arrived back in Argentina and, a week after, I had the offer from Arsenal.
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