Emiliano Martínez

For the Uruguayan footballer, see Emiliano Martínez Toranza.
Template:Pp-vandalism
Template:Family name hatnote

**Damián Emiliano Martínez Romero** (born 2 September 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Argentina national team.

## Club career

### Independiente

Born in Mar del Plata, Martínez started his career playing for Independiente.

### Arsenal

#### 2012–19: Loan moves and fringe appearances

 File:1 Emiliano Martínez 2018.jpg
After injuries to Ryan Clarke and Wayne Brown, and the termination of Connor Ripley's loan, Martínez went on emergency loan to Oxford United, making his debut in the English Football League in their final game of the season against Port Vale in League Two on 5 May 2012; Port Vale won 3–0. Later that year, Martinez was named on the Arsenal substitute bench for their fixtures away at Stoke City on 26 August and against Liverpool on 2 September, as cover for the injured Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Fabiański, respectively. On 26 September, he made his Arsenal debut in a 6–1 home win against Coventry City in the third-round of the League Cup. He made his second Arsenal appearance in the following round in a 7–5 win away at Reading. Martínez subsequently transferred to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on an emergency 28-day loan on 15 October 2013. He made his debut for Wednesday on 23 November, against Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town. Martínez's loan was eventually extended until the end of the season.

After returning to Arsenal, Martínez was an unused substitute as Arsenal won the Community Shield on 10 August 2014, with a 3–0 win over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium. He made his debut in the Champions League soon after, helping Arsenal defeat Anderlecht 2–1 in the group stage. He then made his Premier League debut as a 2nd half substitute, replacing the injured Szczęsny against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on 22 November. With injuries to backup goalkeeper David Ospina, Martínez played his second Champions League game on 26 November, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over Borussia Dortmund. His "faultless" performance in the match led to him being named in the UEFA Team of the Week. He made his first Premier League start on 29 November against West Bromwich Albion, and also started against Southampton four days later; he kept two clean sheets as Arsenal won both matches 1–0.

On 20 March 2015, Martínez joined Championship club Rotherham United on an emergency loan until the end of the season. He made his debut the following day against South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday, conceding two added-time goals in a 3–2 home defeat. On 2 August, Martínez was an unused substitute as new signing Petr Čech played for Arsenal in the 2015 FA Community Shield, a 1–0 win over rivals Chelsea. On 11 August, he joined Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan. After making 15 appearances in the opening months of the campaign, he suffered a thigh injury that kept him out of contention for several months and was unable to regain his starting place afterwards. He spent the 2016–17 season at his parent club, for whom he played 5 games during the campaign, including a Premier League appearance against West Ham.

On 2 August 2017, he was loaned to La Liga side Getafe on a one-year deal, and on 23 January 2019, he was loaned to Championship side Reading until the end of the season. At Reading, Martínez made his debut on 29 January against Bolton Wanderers, and won the Man of the Match award against Aston Villa a few days later.

#### 2019–20: Breakthrough and departure

With Bernd Leno being taken off injured during the first half of Arsenal's defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on 20 June 2020, Martínez came off the bench to make his first Premier League appearance since the 2016–17 season. This led to Martínez seeing out the season as first choice goalkeeper at the club and was highly commended for a string of stellar performances, with former Arsenal striker Ian Wright describing him as "commanding" and as having played "brilliantly" during his extended spell in the team. On 1 August, Martínez was selected to start in the FA Cup Final against Chelsea, he went on to make some crucial saves to help Arsenal win their 14th FA Cup; after lifting the trophy he was visibly emotional and reduced to tears.

Martínez started in the Community Shield clash against Liverpool on 29 August, which Arsenal won on penalties. Following the match, there was much speculation that Martínez would leave the club with Bernd Leno returning and the player himself stated that he either wanted to stay at the club and be first-choice keeper or leave on a permanent basis. With reported interest from a number of Premier League and foreign clubs, including Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion, Martínez was left out of the squad to face Fulham on the opening day of the league season.

### Aston Villa

#### 2020–21 season

On 16 September 2020, Martínez transferred to fellow Premier League club Aston Villa in a deal worth up to £20 million. He signed a four-year deal. On 21 September, Martínez made his debut for Villa, saving a penalty from John Lundstram in a 1–0 home win against Sheffield United. In his first season at Aston Villa, Martínez equalled Brad Friedel's club record for clean sheets in a season, with 15 - as well as being voted Aston Villa Supporters' Player of the Season.

## International career

Martínez was called up to the Argentina senior squad to replace Oscar Ustari to face Nigeria in June 2011. He received his second senior call up against Germany and Ecuador on 9 and 13 October 2019; he was an unused substitute for both friendly matches.

Martínez made his international debut on 3 June 2021, in a 1–1 draw with Chile in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match.

Martínez made his competitive debut on 14 June 2021, in the same result against the same country in the 2021 Copa América at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. In the 57th minute, he saved a penalty from Arturo Vidal, but he failed to make a double save from Eduardo Vargas' rebound. On 6 July 2021, Martinez saved 3 penalties in a 3–2 penalty shootout victory for Argentina over Colombia in the semi-final of the Copa América.

## Personal life

Martínez signed a sponsorship deal with Puma in 2018.

## Career statistics

### Club

Template:Updated

Template:Notelist

### International

Template:Updated

Appearances and goals by national team and year
 Total | 7 | 0

## Honours

### Club

**Arsenal**

* FA Cup: 2019–20
* FA Community Shield: 2014, 2015, 2020

### Individual

* Aston Villa Player of the Season: 2020–21

## References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

1. ↑ Villa sign Emiliano Martinez ✍️ (16 September 2020).
2. ↑ Emiliano Martínez seizes chance at Arsenal to make sacrifices worthwhile (30 July 2020).
3. ↑ Oxford United sign Arsenal keeper Damian Martinez on loan. BBC Sport (4 May 2012).
4. ↑ Martinez joins Oxford on emergency loan. Arsenal FC (4 May 2012).
5. ↑ Port Vale 3 Oxford Utd 0. *BBC Sport* (5 May 2012).
6. ↑ Loan Watch: Wellington scores for Alcoyano. Arsenal FC.
7. ↑ Arsenal 6–1 Coventry. BBC Sport (26 September 2012).
8. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
9. ↑ Arsenal talent joins Owls. Sheffield Wednesday F.C..
10. ↑ Martinez extends loan deal with Owls | News Archive. Arsenal F.C. (14 November 2013).
11. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
12. ↑ RSC Anderlecht 1–2 Arsenal (22 October 2014).
13. ↑ Wilshere & Szczesny forced out of Manchester United clash as injury strikes Arsenal. Goal.com (22 November 2014).
14. ↑ Chowdhury, Saj. Arsenal 2–0 Borussia Dortmund. BBC Sport.
15. ↑ UEFA.com's team of the week – UEFA Champions League. UEFA (27 November 2014).
16. ↑ Reddy, Luke (29 November 2014). West Bromwich Albion 0–1 Arsenal. BBC Sport.
17. ↑ McNulty, Phil. Arsenal 1–0 Southampton. BBC Sport.
18. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
19. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
20. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
21. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
22. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
23. ↑ Arsenal 3–0 West Ham United (5 April 2017).
24. ↑ Emiliano Martínez cedido al Getafe (es). Getafe CF (2 August 2017).
25. ↑ Emi Martinez joins Reading on loan. Arsenal FC (23 January 2019).
26. ↑ Brighton 2-1 Arsenal: Maupay stuns Gunners with late winner (20 June 2020).
27. ↑ Meade, Sam (14 July 2020). Mikel Arteta hails Emiliano Martinez with warning to Bernd Leno over No.1 spot.
28. ↑ Jacob, Gary. From Argentina to Wembley via six loan spells – how Emiliano Martínez took his chance as Arsenal No 1.
29. ↑ 'Martinez is better than Kepa, Chelsea could get him' – Wright fears goalkeeper raid on Arsenal.
30. ↑ Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez breaks down in tears after FA Cup final (1 August 2020).
31. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
32. ↑ Martinez: I'll leave Arsenal if I don't get more games (10 August 2020).
33. ↑ Emiliano Martínez not in Arsenal squad and Brighton join race to sign him (11 September 2020).
34. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
35. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
36. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
37. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
38. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
39. ↑ Preece, Ashley (2021-05-13). Aston Villa 0 Everton 0 recap and ratings from Villa Park (en).
40. ↑ Martinez voted Supporters' Player of the Season 🏆.
41. ↑ Martinez called up to full Argentina squad | News Archive. Arsenal F.C. (2 June 2011).
42. ↑ Internationals: Martinez named in Argentina squad. Arsenal FC (8 October 2019).
43. ↑ Internationals: Pepe scores for Ivory Coast. Arsenal FC (14 October 2019).
44. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
45. ↑ Nemer, Roy. Lionel Messi, Emiliano Martinez comment on Argentina’s Copa America opener | Mundo Albiceleste (en-US).
46. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
47. ↑ Delighted to have signed a new contract with @pumafootball. Twitter.
48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 E. Martínez: Summary. Perform Group.
49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Template:Soccerbase season
50. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Template:Soccerbase season
52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 Template:Soccerbase season
53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 Template:Soccerbase season
54. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 Template:Soccerbase season
56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Template:Soccerbase season
57. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 Template:Soccerbase season
59. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
60. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
61. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
62. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
63. ↑ Martinez voted Supporters' Player of the Season 🏆. Aston Villa F.C. (23 May 2021). Retrieved on May 23, 2021.
**Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".**

## External links

* Template:Soccerbase

Template:Aston Villa F.C. squad
Template:Aston Villa F.C. Player of the Season
Template:Argentina squad 2021 Copa América