Michail Antonio suggests £17m player did make an ‘upwards move’ when he left Arsenal

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West Ham United striker Michail Antonio has claimed that Emiliano Martinez has made an upwards move since leaving Arsenal.

Speaking on the Filthy Fellas YouTube channel, Antonio was discussing the World Cup-winning goalkeeper.

Emiliano Martinez spent 10 years at The Emirates but was never considered first choice.

He deputised for Bernd Leno after the German picked up an injury against Brighton.

His form at the end of that season earned him a £17m move to Aston Villa as well as an FA Cup winner’s medal.

Since then, he’s gone from strength to strength at Villa Park. Argentina recognised his efforts and called him up to the national team.

His heroics in penalty shootouts have since helped his country win the Copa America and then the World Cup.

Michail Antonio has now claimed that Martinez’s transfer to Villa from Arsenal was an upwards move for the 30-year-old.

It catapulted him onto the world stage after waiting in the wings at The Emirates for much of his career.

Antonio suggests Martinez made upwards move by leaving Arsenal

Speaking about the confident goalkeeper, Antonio said: “He’s been everywhere but now he’s won the World Cup, it’s crazy.

“Technically, it was an upwards move [from Arsenal to Aston Villa].

“He’s not talking an upwards move as in Aston Villa’s a bigger club than Arsenal.

“It’s an upwards move in terms of he’s going to play first-team football. So, he’s going there to play whereas at Arsenal he was always in and out of the team.”

Few aside from Antonio and Martinez will consider moving from Arsenal to Aston Villa to be a step up.

However, it was the right choice at the time for the Argentinian who proved he was too good to sit on the bench when Leno returned from injury.

Arsenal eventually brought in a replacement for Leno in the form of Aaron Ramsdale.

Although he’s performed excellently, Leno has enjoyed the same uplift in form at Fulham that Martinez did when he moved to Villa.

Martinez won’t look back on his time at The Gunners too fondly considering how long it took him to finally be given his opportunity.

The 30-year-old has been linked with a move elsewhere although qualification for Europe might convince him to stay put for one more year.