Chelsea great and former Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech believes Emiliano Martinez possessed 'too much energy' during his years at the Emirates Stadium - and he had to leave for Aston Villa in order to become the world class stopper he has developed into.
Martinez has enjoyed a spell at Villa Park he couldn't have hoped to achieve when joining in 2020; he has played regularly as first choice in the Premier League, represented the Lions in the Champions League this year and has claimed the World Cup with Argentina in 2022.
Goalkeeper Martinez has also earned the famous Yashin Trophy in successive years, awarded to the goalkeeper who is widely regarded to be the best in the world. His exploits at Villa down the years have led to many supporters in the Arsenal fanbase questioning why he was allowed to depart in the first place.
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The £20m deal, struck during the days of Dean Smith's tenure, came at a time when Martinez was second fiddle to Bernd Leno at Arsenal, but Martinez has gone on to have more success - the Gunners, meanwhile, have worked through Aaron Ramsdale and now David Raya since selling the Argentine.
Cech, Chelsea's former technical and performance advisor who has moved into ice hockey since retiring from football, worked with Martinez when the pair were together at Arsenal, although the latter spent much of his time away from North London during loan spells with Reading, Wolves, Sheffield Wednesday and others.
"You could always see his ability, but he had too much energy at Arsenal," Cech told Amazon Prime. "It wasn’t until he found a way to channel it into one direction that he really developed and went to the next level."
Martinez has proved to be Arsenal's loss and Villa's gain in the intervening period.
