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The Gunners goalkeeper received permission to travel to Birmingham on Saturday to finalize his move to Villa Park.
Emi Martinez is about to move to Aston Villa.
The Arsenal goalkeeper missed Saturday’s 3-0 win against Fulham as Mikel Arteta removed him from the team on Friday amid growing interest from both Villa and Brighton.
At the time, neither club had seen an offer accepted by the 28-year-old, but that changed on Saturday when Villa, who had already been turned down by two offers, finally matched the valuation of 20 million pounds ($ 26 million). ) from Arsenal for the Argentine.
The Gunners gave Martinez permission to travel to Birmingham and he spent the afternoon visiting Villa’s training facility and undergoing a medical examination before completing his move.
The two clubs are currently putting the finishing touches on the transfer, which is expected to finalize in the next few days, ending Martinez’s long stay in North London.
Arsenal wanted to stay with Martinez and had offered him an extension to his current contract, which will expire in 2022, but were unable to offer him any guarantees on playing time.
And having replaced Bernd Leno following the German international’s injury last season and having played such an important role in the Gunners’ FA Cup success, the goalkeeper made it clear that he wanted to be the first choice.
But now that Leno fit in again, Mikel Arteta could not offer guarantees to Martínez, to whom Villa offered more money and they gave him concrete guarantees about his playing time.
Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s game in Fulham this weekend, Arteta was asked about how difficult it would be to keep his two goalkeepers happy, should they remain the club.
“Well, they want (me) to know their role and at the end of the day it is a position to fill and the other has to support the No. 1 and who is playing 100%,” said the Arsenal manager. “If you can’t do that, you can’t be part of our senior team and you shouldn’t be here.”
With Martinez’s move to Villa now imminent, Arsenal will intensify their search for a replacement. Third-choice goalkeeper Matt Macey was on the bench against Fulham, but is not seen as a long-term endorsement of Leno.
The Gunners have a strong interest in David Raya at Brentford and the 24-year-old, who was not part of the Championship squad on Saturday when they lost 1-0 in Birmingham, is understood to be interested in a move to North London. .
However, Brentford does not want to sell, as top scorer Ollie Watkins left this summer.
