Emiliano Martinez’s wife, Mandinha, has insisted his emotional reaction after Aston Villa’s last home game of the season last month was just ‘who he is’ as an ’emotional character’.
The 32-year-old has been a fundamental figure for Villa since he arrived in 2020, as he’s gone on to make 212 appearances for the club while playing a pivotal role in our ongoing progression from Dean Smith’s tenure to Unai Emery’s current reign.
READ MORE: Timely reminder from classy Villa ace why any interest in him should be dismissed
Coupled with achievements and successes with Argentina, he has enjoyed an exceptional period in his career, and with a contract that runs until 2029, it’s hoped that the Argentine shot-stopper will spend a significant amount more time with us in the coming years.
However, speculation has been rife over his future this summer, as with Villa failing to qualify for the Champions League and facing financial pressures in relation to PSR and SCR ahead of the June 30 deadline, it has been heavily suggested that we’ll have to sell this month to balance our books.
Naturally, as one of our most prized assets, Martinez’s name has been linked with a departure to bring in a significant fee and reduce our wage bill, but a lot of the transfer talk perhaps stemmed from his tearful reaction after the full-time whistle against Tottenham last month, in our final home game of the season.
Many interpreted it as a goodbye of sort as he might have possibly believed that it was the last time he would wear our colours at Villa Park, whether that is his wish or an awareness of the club’s financial predicament and how he could prove to be a solution.
However, while speaking about her new MiSuenos Kids shop that she’s opened in Tamworth, Mandinha insisted that her husband is just an emotional character and wasn’t in tears on that evening, while reiterating his and her love for the Villa faithful.
“He wasn’t in tears,” she told Ed James on BBC WM, who suggested that it might have looked like a goodbye to the fans. “No. Anybody who knows Emi knows he is an emotional character and that’s who he is. It just shows you how much he loves the Villa fans. I love the Villa fans. We love Villa.”
While it’s great to hear and offers some reassurance that perhaps Martinez isn’t the one pushing for a move elsewhere, there is still so much uncertainty surrounding the situation as we wait to see what the club decides to do to address our PSR conundrum.
Ideally, we’d sell some of our fringe players and youngsters to make up the difference and ensure we’re within the parameters that PSR allows, but we must also raise funds to spend on reinforcements this summer while lowering our wage bill, and so the focus naturally switches back to some of the more influential figures in our squad.
It’s hoped that Martinez is still our first-choice goalkeeper to start next season, and while we know that both he and his family love the club and must be settled in the area now, he’s an ambitious player with the desire to win trophies, and combine that with the pressure we’re feeling to sell this summer, it might not be the ideal ending that we all want.
The Talk Villa Newsletter is set for a relaunch this summer. Subscribe below for ad-free articles, podcasts, exclusive content and much more on Substack. More details to follow…Up The Villa!
