Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez admits he didn’t want to leave Independiente for Arsenal in 2010.
Martinez admitted he made the decision to join the North London club for £1.1million to provide for his family as they were struggling financially at the time.
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He told El Pais: “Arsenal came to look for me and Pepe Santoro [a coach at Independiente] told me that the train only passes once in a lifetime.
“My family and my agents thought the same. So, the decision was more for them than anything else.
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“I didn’t want to go. I did not regret it, but I wanted to play in Independiente. For a while, I thought: ‘If I stayed, in two years I will make my debut. [My family] lacked a little financially. I did it more for that than sports.”