Emi Martinez joins Getafe on loan

Emi Martinez, depending on who you ask, is rated anywhere from a potential Premier league starter-caliber goalkeeper to a third option for a top club and perhaps not much more. Either way, we’re about to find out what his ceiling could be as Arsenal has announced a loan move to newly promoted La Liga side Getafe.

Per the club’s announcement:

The 24-year-old made five first team appearances for us last season, keeping three clean sheets.

He featured twice in the Premier League, impressing and keeping a clean sheet in the 3-0 home win over West Ham United.

The Argentine has amassed over 50 career appearances since joining us from Independiente in 2010, during which time has also enjoyed loan spells with Wolves, Rotherham United, Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United.

This is an interesting move for Martinez but somewhat of a puzzling one for Arsenal. Getafe should provide plenty of challenges as they’re newly promoted and expected to be a bottom-3 side this season. We’ll get to see what he’s made of for sure.

However, with David Ospina widely thought to be on the outs this might leave Arsenal with a backup conundrum. Of course, Ospina could very well stay but if he doesn’t then it would mean Arsenal would either have to dip its toes into the transfer market for a new keeper or will have to promote a youth option. One of the academy kids could certainly come in and get some minutes versus opposition a few tiers down but that might not be the most optimal route for this club if it wants to win as many competitions as possible.

This isn’t a crisis by any means, and Emi did need more minutes in order to develop or perhaps be showcased for a future transfer, but it now suddenly is a storyline to keep an eye on for the next month.