“He could have perhaps played for England” – Gary Lineker drops major Emi Martinez claim from his time at Arsenal after FIFA World Cup final

Former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker has claimed there were rumors of Emiliano Martinez potentially being offered the chance to represent England during his time at Arsenal.

The Mar del Plata-born Argentine goalkeeper left Club Independiente to join Arsenal in the summer of 2010. In the 10 years that followed, he was loaned out five separate times, including to Oxford United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Reading, after struggling to get regular playing time with the Gunners.

He made just 38 senior appearances for them across competitions, with 15 of them coming at the tail end of the 2019-20 season. Bernd Leno's injury gave Martinez a pedestal to showcase his ability at Arsenal, and Aston Villa took note.

They signed him at the end of that campaign, which led to an upward rise in the Argentine's career. It ultimately led to his first senior cap, which came in a 1-1 draw against Chile in June 2021 at the age of 28.

But it could have all been different had he been offered the chance to represent the Three Lions during his time at the Emirates. Lineker, who won the Golden Boot at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, told Match of the Day (h/t HITC):

"He so deserves it (Golden Glove), the two penalty shootouts he has been the hero. He was playing for Oxford ten years ago. He was the Arsenal reserve goalkeeper for quite some time.

"I think there was a point where did break into the Arsenal team, where there were rumours and I don’t know how true, that the FA were looking to see if he could get a British passport because he had been in the country since he was very young, in which case, he could have perhaps played for England.”

He has represented Argentina 26 times so far and kept 17 clean sheets, with seven of them coming in 10 World Cup Qualification games.

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Former Arsenal star continues to be Argentina's main man on the big stage

This FIFA World Cup triumph was as much Martinez's as it was Lionel Messi's. He saved Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis' penalty kicks to help his team beat the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

In the final, he saved Randal Kolo Muani's shot from close range in the dying minutes of extra time to send the game into shootouts. He then saved Kingsley Coman's penalty to give his team a big advantage.

Aurelien Tchouameni's penalty was wide of the mark but it was evident that Martinez's mind games had perhaps gotten to his head. He deservingly won the Golden Glove award at the end of the tournament.

This is the third time he has helped his team win a penalty shootout. The first came in the 2021 Copa America semi-finals against Colombia, where they won 3-2 on penalties before beating Brazil in the final.

Although he made only seven saves throughout the tournament but made some vital ones that changed the complexion of those games.