Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says the club were forced to sell Emiliano Martinez over the summer because they had no choice.
After ten years of service at the club, Arsenal sold goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to Premier League side Aston Villa.
For the majority of the Argentine shot-stopper’s time at the Emirates, he was never a starter and was mostly limited to appearances in cup games.
Things changed a bit towards the end of last season where Martinez starred in place of injured Bernd Leno.
The 28-year-old did an impressive job as a deputy goalkeeper and even left a divided opinion that he should be the starter ahead of Leno.
Martinez was in goal when Arsenal won the FA Cup against Chelsea. After that game, he mentioned he would only consider a stay at the Emirates if he is made the number-one choice.
Mikel Arteta stuck with his German counterpart and hence let the Argentine goalkeeper move to Aston Villa.
The Arsenal boss explains why he had to make that decision.
“Obviously, it wasn’t in my plans to sell him,” Arteta said to the club’s website. “But we gave him the chance because he deserved it.
“He performed really, really well but we have to balance the books. We have to make the right choices in the market and obviously, I couldn’t guarantee him to be the number one.
“He’s a very ambitious person, he has been working really hard and he can see now that the opportunity is there. He’s got the opportunity to play with Argentina and when a player asks you to do that I think you have to be open enough and tell him what you think about him.
“If he makes the decision to leave, you should try to support him because he deserves it for the way he has served the club over the years.”
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