Arsenal after new goalkeeper as Arteta admits to failed summer

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said the club are seeking a new goalkeeper after a difficult summer in the transfer market.

Bernd Leno and Emiliano Martinez provided probably the best strength in depth in the Premier League last season, with the latter instrumental in the Gunners’ road to winning the FA Cup.

But the Argentine was allowed to go to Aston Villa for more regular first-team opportunities late on in the window, while they added 25-year-old Runar Alex Runarsson to their ranks.

The Iceland international is now believed to be available to suitors on loan, however, and third-choice stopper Matt Macey signed for Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership last week.

Arteta said that after Martinez left in the summer, there wasn’t enough time to find a solution and that the recruitment team are now looking to this window to bolster their goalkeeping ranks.

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“The discussions we had with the club were a little bit different to what actually happened because of the transfer window and the situation that developed with Emi at the end of the day,” he said.

“We didn’t have much time to do what we really wanted to do and we decided to assess the situation in this window.”

Martinez has excelled away from Arsenal

Martinez is currently leading the Premier League golden glove with eight clean sheets in a hugely impressive Villa team, while Leno is eighth with five shutouts, level with Kasper Schmeichel and Lukasz Fabianski (via FootballCritic).

Leno suffered a serious injury at Brighton post-lockdown which opened the door for Martinez to come into the side where he ultimately excelled and earned himself the No.1 shirt at Villa Park.

Arsenal look set to clear Mesut Ozil’s wage off the books, with the German reportedly on the verge of a move to Fenerbahce, and that may allow Arteta to open up the chequebook for a new gloveman.