Emi Martinez’ arrival at Villa park from Arsenal was deeply contested and spoken about in the media as Arsenal ‘ripping Villa off” with a controversial £16 million pound fee, however since the season has started no team or goalkeeper has kept more clean sheets than Martinez or Aston Villa.

Could this mean Emi Martinez is the new hero to propel Villa to Europe’s stardom. Or Does this beg the question that it could be the other way round?

When Martinez signed in the summer for a fee of £16 million (rising to £20), he described it as a step up in his career, for which he was mocked on social media, however in his first four games of the Premier League season, Villa had kept four clean sheets in four games, in contrast Arsenal kept just one.

Villa have lacked a recognised keeper in previous years with Ørjan Nyland,  Jed Steer, Pierlugi Gollini and Tom Heaton failing to live up to the high expectations of the Villa faithful, or being injury ridden during their time at Villa park,.

Martinez, on the other hand, has been contesting goalkeepers from some of Europe’s biggest teams in terms of statistics.

Villa have been on the positive end of some impressive results this season so far, including a 7-2 thrashing over Liverpool, 1-0 away win over Leicester and Wolves, and a 3-0 away win over Arsenal. Conceding a combined total of two goals against this calibre of team is no easy job, however, Martinez has been helped greatly by the players in front him such as Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Matt Target and Matty Cash.

The afore mentioned quartet have flourished, also stating in interviews that Martinez has shown quality from his first training session.

Martinez has been greatly welcomed by the Villa faithful and has already been named as one of the best goalkeepers since the Brad Friedel era despite being just a third of the way through the season.

How far can Villa aim with a keeper with the quality of Martinez between the sticks?

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