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Aston Villa: How Emi Martinez became world’s best goalkeeper

When Emi Martinez joined Aston Villa from Arsenal in September 2020 he attached a laminated list of targets to his locker, and one of them was to become the best goalkeeper in the world.

At the time, that might have seemed like an admirably lofty but somewhat unlikely ambition for someone who had never even been the number one keeper at his club, let alone on the entire planet.

Martinez's move to Dean Smith's newly promoted team came a few days after he turned 28. The previous decade had seen him make just 13 Premier League starts for the Gunners - who loaned him out six times to the lower leagues or abroad.