Aston Villa make a second bid for Martinez

Aston Villa have made a second bid for Emiliano Martinez that is substantially closer to Arsenal’s £20 million valuation of the player, according to Gregg Evans of The Athletic. 

It is still unclear who head coach Mikel Arteta sees as his first choice goalkeeper. He has two fantastic options in Leno, who had an outstanding game against Switzerland yesterday, and Martinez, who put in a string of impressive performances for the Gunners towards the end of last season.

The Argentine was picked over Leno to start in the Community Shield but it is impossible to predict who Arsenal’s starting goalkeeper will be when they visit Craven Cottage on September 12th. 

Martinez has made it clear that he wants to play regular football. His preference is to be Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper but if that isn’t possible, he will look to move elsewhere. Aston Villa want to sign him and are offering to make him their undisputed number one.

Tom Heaton, who was their starting goalkeeper in the first half of last season, is recovering from a long term injury. Pepe Reina was signed on loan for the second half of the 2019/20 campaign but has since returned to his parent club, AC Milan, and secured a permanent transfer to Lazio. 

The Midlands side were believed to have made an opening bid in the region of £10 million which was batted away by the Gunners. They have now returned with a significantly increased offer that is not too far away from the £20 million price tag the North London side have placed on the 28 year old.

The Gunners will not let Martinez leave unless they can sign a replacement. Their top target is Brentford’s David Raya but the Championship side have made it clear that he is not for sale. Dean Smith’s side will have to wait to see if Arsenal do sign a replacement and make Martinez available for a transfer this summer.