Martinez had loan spells at several EFL clubs during his time in north London and was finally sold to Aston Villa in 2020 for £17m.
Arteta decided Bernd Leno would be his first-choice goalkeeper for that season but would soon replace the Germany international with £30m signing Aaron Ramsdale.
Ramsdale initially impressed at the Emirates Stadium, proving his doubters wrong following a switch from relegated Sheffield United, but also found himself on the sidelines when Arteta sanctioned Arsenal’s move for current No. 1 David Raya.
Raya has established himself as one of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League since joining Arsenal but ex-England goalkeeper James still believes it was a mistake to sell Martinez.
Martinez is also regarded as one of the best in the business having flourished at Aston Villa – now a Champions League club – and starring in Argentina’s World Cup win in Qatar.
‘It’s interesting when you look at Premier League goalkeepers over a number of years now, there’s not many characters,’ James said on the Seaman Says podcast with Betway. ‘Prior to that there were more characters for whatever reason.
‘He [Emiliano Martinez] has character, everything about him is character, he’s a big-game player. He wants to be in the biggest games.
‘When you look at the Raya and Ramsdale situation at Arsenal and obviously Martinez was allowed to go because of Bernd Leno, who’s a decent goalkeeper.
‘Weirdly there’s not a lot of goalkeepers in the Premier League these days who are capable of getting to the top corner.
Meanwhile, Peter Schmeichel – widely considered one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history – believes Martinez’s form at Aston Villa has proven Arsenal boss Arteta wrong.
‘Martinez, I think he has proven Arsenal wrong, for sure,’ Schmeichel said on the Stick to Football podcast. ‘I think he’s a big personality and I think he’s helping that team [Villa] a lot.
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