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Arsenal are set to sell goalkeeper Emi Martínez to Aston Villa, although the two teams have yet to agree on a valuation.
Villa have offered £15 million, whilst the Gunners are holding out for £20 million for a player who still has two yeas left on his current contract at the Emirates. He has been left out of the squad to play Fulham in the season opener.
Martínez seized his opportunity at the end of last season following an injury to regular number one goalkeeper Bernd Leno and impressed in their successful FA Cup win. The Gunners were prepared to offer him an improved new contract, but he has turned that down because he wants guarantees about regular first-team football which they cannot provide.
Many Arsenal fans want him to stay, but he now appears determined to leave, having agreed personal terms with Villa on a four-year deal worth £60,000 a week.
The Arsenal may now be forced into the market for a new back-up goalkeeper, as current number three, Matt Macey, also wants to leave the club to play first-team football.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.