'Way off it': David Seaman says one player Arsene Wenger signed was so bad when he saw him for the first time

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Arsene Wenger signed over 100 players during his time as Arsenal’s manager.

The legendary Frenchman spent over two decades at the helm in North London, and he remains the Gunners’ most successful manager of all time.

Some of Wenger’s signings as Arsenal’s boss were truly incredible, while a few others didn’t live up to the expectations while they were at the club.

David Seaman has now had his say on one signing Wenger made many years ago.

David Seaman shares what he thought when he saw Emiliano Martinez for the first time at Arsenal

Seaman is one of the greatest goalkeepers England has ever produced.

The legendary Englishman spent over a decade at Arsenal, and he is still, in many people’s eyes, the club’s greatest-ever goalkeeper.

After his playing career, Seaman has worked as a goalkeeping coach at Arsenal – he works with the young keepers at the club even to this day.

The 61-year-old has now claimed that he actually thought Emiliano Martinez had really bad technique when he saw him for the first time at Arsenal.

Now, however, Seaman has admitted that the Argentine is a top goalkeeper.

He said on talkSPORT: “Martinez at Villa. As much as I don’t like his style or his antics, he is a proper goalie.

“I remember when he came to Arsenal, he came to Arsenal as a 16-year-old. I was there coaching with Tony Roberts, who was the academy goalkeeping coach, and they had asked me to go along. They were like they paid £1 million for this 16-year-old.

“I saw him and I was like ‘he’s way off it’, technique-wise and everything. But, you could tell that he had this fire in his head that he wanted to be really good.”

Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

What Arsene Wenger kept saying to Emi Martinez at Arsenal

Wenger always had huge faith in his players, and it was no different with Martinez.

The Argentine played just 13 times under the legendary former Arsenal boss and was even sent out on loan on numerous occasions.

However, Wenger identified Martinez’s talent very early.

The goalkeeper revealed to Arsenal.com that his old boss always used to tell him: “Emi, you’re the future of this club.”

That did not materialise, but Martinez has become a superstar for Aston Villa and Argentina and has achieved incredible feats, including winning the World Cup.

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