Phil Hay, speaking in his live Q+A before the Whites played Cardiff City, revealed that Leeds United are potentially looking at signing a new goalkeeper in the summer.
Hay claimed that Kiko Casilla might leave, and the club intend to sign Illan Meslier permanently.
The Athletic reporter claims that one name that has been mentioned is Arsenal’s Emiliano Martinez.
The 27-year-old has been with the Gunners since 2010 but he has only made 26 first-team appearances though he did come off the bench in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend.
However, the Argentinian is only valued at £2.52m by Transfermarkt, so he shouldn’t be that expensive, and Football Insider has claimed that he is one of the lowest-paid members of Arsenal’s squad.
Here is what the fan asked.
“Which areas of the team do you think Leeds will look to strengthen if they go up?”
This is how Hay responded.
“If Casilla goes (which he might well do) then they’ll need to think about another ‘keeper. One who’s been mentioned to me is Emiliano Martinez at Arsenal (although Leeds intend to sign Meslier permanently and there’s every chance that he could end up as first choice next season. Bielsa thinks he’s good enough). Also, I feel like a specialist left-back would be good – despite also feeling that [Stuart] Dallas has earned himself a decent run there. And needless to say, they could do with more goals.”
Would you like to see Leeds sign Martinez?
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TIF Thoughts…
Casilla is currently banned for racially abusing Jonathan Leko and as a result, Meslier is filling in. So far, he has played three league games and kept two clean sheets, in addition to having conceded two goals.
This meant that Elia Caprile has been used on the bench.
Still, considering he has never made a first-team appearance for either Leeds or Chievo Verona, he might not have the experience required to be a reliable backup goalkeeper.
This is where Martinez comes in because he has made 89 senior club appearances in his career.
However, with Bernd Leno going off injured on Saturday, the Gunners might be relying on Martinez for the rest of the season.
This could give him the chance to put himself in the shop window and maybe create some competition for Leeds.
It will be interesting to see if the Whites do go up and do make a move for Martinez.