Villarreal plan bid for Martinez if Arteta doesn’t play him | OneFootball

Unai Emery and Villarreal are planning a move for Emi Martinez if Mikel Arteta doesn’t make the goalkeeper first choice this season.

The Telegraph report that Unai Emery is planning a move for Villarreal to sign Emi Martinez this summer, if Mikel Arteta doesn’t make the goalkeeper first choice at Arsenal.

Emery is keen to reunite with Martinez. Although the goalkeeper wants to stay with his current club, that will change if Bernd Leno remains the number one at Arsenal.

As we previously covered, Aston Villa are also in the mix, though they made a particularly low bid.

If Martinez stays, he’ll get a new contract with Arsenal. He’s currently earning a lot less than Leno, which obviously wouldn’t make sense if he was starting as many games as the German international at the same age.

For the time being, it certainly seems as if Arteta is still keen to use Martinez. He picked him for the Community Shield match against Liverpool, despite Leno and Matt Macey featuring in the only friendly before that.

It’s also possible the head coach was just rotating between the goalkeepers, though. The real test will be seeing which one of them starts against Fulham next weekend. If it’s not Martinez, expect Villarreal to prepare a bid.