Lack of trust forced me out of the Emirates -Martinez

Emiliano Martinez has revealed he left Arsenal for Aston Villa due to a lack of trust shown in him by the Gunners.

The 28-year-old goalkeeper came through the ranks at the north London club after joining from Argentine side Independiente in 2010, but spent various loan spells away from the club and eventually sealed a permanent move to Villa Park last summer.

And ahead of Villa’s home clash with Wolves the Argentine told Sky Sports that his former club ‘didn’t deserve him’.

‘I love everything about Arsenal. I still love them and I’m still watching the games, but I just felt like they didn’t trust me like they should have, Martinez said.

‘That’s the reality because they kept buying goalkeepers to go in front of me and I was the goalkeeper from the academy.

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‘When I was on a high, I still felt like they didn’t deserve me because of the way they were treating me. They couldn’t guarantee me the games I needed so I thought that if they couldn’t guarantee me games, I’m moving on.

‘They didn’t say to me that I wasn’t going to play, they just didn’t guarantee me the games that I wanted to play.

‘So, after 10 years, I decided to leave, and it was very difficult. My family didn’t understand why I was leaving when I was at such a good level at Arsenal, but it was my decision to leave and I’m really proud I did it.

‘It was a gamble, but I always believe that if you stay in the comfort zone, you will never reach anything in life. I decided to take the step up.’

Martinez’s move to the midlands has seemingly been justified with Aston Villa two points ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand. He has kept 13 clean sheets with his new side so far – the second highest in the Premier League.