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Emiliano Martinez has staked his claim for the Arsenal No 1 jersey.
In a podcast hosted by Arsenal En America, the Argentinian revealed his dream of playing as a regular in the Arsenal first team and the Argentine national side.
“My goal is to reach the Argentine national team, I have the qualities. I need only a little more playing time. I want to add minutes, make a great season, be Arsenal’s number one and have chances of being in the team that plays the Copa América 2020,” Martínez told Arsenal En America (via InfoBae).
Emiliano Martinez of Arsenal during a training session at London Colney (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
The 27 year-old is yet to make an appearance for Arsenal this season, but is likely to feature when the Gunners open their Europa League account against Frankfurt next Thursday.
The 27-year-old spent the second part of the last season on loan at Reading. He says that he even had offers to leave in the summer, but chose to have a new shot at Arsenal.
“I had a great season on loan at Reading and I had offers to leave Arsenal. I wanted to play, it was going to be my priority. After nine years without much rhythm I wanted to leave. But I got the news that I was going to play more games and I decided to stay to try to be number one.
“I’m very prepared. If I didn’t believe myself of being capable of taking that position, I would not have stayed.”
Arsenal’s current No 1: Bernd Leno
When asked about his competition for the No 1 spot, Martinez made a bold claim when comparing himself to Bernd Leno.
“Last year Petr Cech started as a starter and Bernd Leno played the cups. But this year Leno starts number one and I’m playing those competitions.
Although everything can change, because they left me at the club knowing that I can be number one. We both play very well with our feet.
Our coach tells everyone that we are one more player and told us that we are among the best goalkeepers who play with our feet, which is something very important for his game system.
“He (Leno) has more professional matches than me, but in qualities I am equal to or better than him.”
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