"I know what he’s been through” – Emi Martinez insists Arsenal star ‘deserves’ involvement at top level football

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has lauded his Arsenal counterpart Aaron Ramsdale, who has delivered some stand-out performances this season. The Argentina international was sold by the north London club in the summer of 2020 which ended his decade-long association with them.

Since then, Martinez has not spoken positively about Arsenal or his time at the club. He recently joined Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster and the two had a chat on Amazon Prime's YouTube Channel where the Argentine spoke about Ramsdale. He said:

“The fact that I know what he’s been through, he played in League One and League Two, Championship, he’s been relegated in the Premier League, so he’s been through a lot. And now he’s actually winning every game, fighting for Champions League… he deserves it.”

The former Arsenal man only got an opportunity to play regularly for the team in the second half of the 2019-20 campaign owing to a season-ending injury suffered by Bernd Leno. The 29-year old grabbed the opportunity with both hands back then and played an important role in the club's FA Cup and Community Shield triumph.

The following season, however, he was eager to be Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper, but Mikel Arteta wasn't ready to fulfill his wish. This led to his exit from the north London club, and Aston Villa snapped him up.

Martinez had a great first season at Villa Park where he got to play the entire Premier League season and successfully kept 15 clean sheets. The ongoing campaign has been a rather difficult season for him as he has conceded 34 goals already and kept just eight clean sheets so far.

Aston Villa lost their away game to Arsenal with a scoreline of 3-1 in October last year, which was the first time Martinez conceded against his former club since leaving.

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Aaron Ramsdale has quickly become a fan favorite at Arsenal

The former Sheffield United goalkeeper has won over the Gunners fanbase with his passion and commitment to the club. Ramsdale has kept the third-most clean sheets in the Premier League this season (11) with only Manchester City's Ederson (15) and Liverpool's Alisson (14) above him.

His vocal personality and confidence has also helped the Gunners backline stay alert and communicate better with each other. The 23-year old has made himself extremely useful to Mikel Arteta's system with his brilliant passing ability. The Spaniard can rely on him to allow his team to play out from the back with minimal fuss.

He has pulled off some extremely glamorous saves while guarding the posts and has only conceded 20 goals in the English top-flight at a rate of less than one-goal-per-game.