Emiliano Martinez thanked Mikel Arteta and Arsenal for allowing him out of the club and said they had fully fulfilled their request for guaranteed first-team minutes elsewhere.
The Argentine, who had been at the North London club for a decade, gave a series of heroic performances after the season restart, to win the FA Cup and Community Shield.
But with Arteta restoring Bernd Leno as the number one goalkeeper for the new season, Martinez knew he had to leave the Emirates and made a 20 million-pound pass to Aston Villa on Wednesday.
As Martinez leaves with a sorry heart, he feels he wants to have guaranteed play time to secure his position as Argentina’s first-choice goalkeeper and says Arteta and Arsenal’s hierarchy were pleased to fulfill his wish.
In statements to Arsenal’s website, he said, ‘I won 3 FA Cups, 3 Community Shields [before last season], but in fact I wasn’t part of the team, I wasn’t getting the minutes I needed.
“So I never felt like I’d won. I was a component of the team, but I never felt like I was mine. And I had to pass on loan after loan then in a position to go back and have a chance to the goalkeeper I am. Today.
“And when I won the trophies, it’s me. ” Arsenal tried to hold me and obviously I talked to Mikel, talked to the club.
“But they understood my resolve and respected it. And that’s Arsenal, you know. When you give everything for the club, they’ll respect you. “
“So I am grateful to be the player that I am and the user that I am. I came here as a young man, single, from Argentina, from a poor country, from a poor family. And I’m leaving with a woman. ” , with a child and as a man. And it’s all due to Arsenal. “
He added: “I just need to tell enthusiasts that they have to accept the process as true, they do a very smart task with Mikel and his team and I wish them all the best. “
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