Emiliano Martínez

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.

Throughout his career, he has gained a reputation for specializing in penalty shoot-outs and saving penalty kicks.

Martínez represented Argentina in junior international matches from 2009 to 2011, playing on under-17 and under-20 levels.

He earned his first senior cap for the Argentina national team in 2021, helping his nation win the 2021 Copa América, receiving the Golden Glove award and keeping a clean sheet in the final.

Martínez went on to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he also won the best goalkeeper of the tournament, the Golden Glove, for his performances.

For these achievements, he was also named The Best FIFA Goalkeeper in 2022 and received the Yashin Trophy in 2023.

Born in Mar del Plata, Martínez started his career playing for Independiente's youth team.

In 2009, shortly after his 17th birthday, he was invited to trial at Arsenal, and was initially offered a youth contract.

Martínez trained at Independiente's youth ranks before moving to Premier League club Arsenal in 2010.

After impressing in a trial and being approved for a work permit, Martinez was formally registered as an Arsenal player in July 2010.

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 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 to Reading.

Martínez subsequently transferred to Championship club 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 2014 FA Community Shield on 10 August, 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 second 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 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.

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 Community Shield, a 1–0 win over rivals Chelsea.

On 11 August, he joined Championship club 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 Arsenal, and played five matches during the campaign, including two Premier League appearances against Crystal Palace and West Ham United.

On 2 August 2017, he joined La Liga club Getafe on a season-long loan, and on 23 January 2019, he was loaned to Championship club 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.

At Arsenal, he initially served as understudy, being loaned to various clubs, before breaking into the starting line-up in 2019, featuring in the Premier League and helping the club win a FA Cup and FA Community Shield.

In September 2020, Martínez moved to fellow Premier League club Aston Villa in a transfer worth £20 million.

In his first season at the club, he kept a club-record fifteen clean sheets in the Premier League.

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.

Martínez started in the 2020 Community Shield 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.