Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has insisted that it means more to him to have helped the club qualify for the Champions League next season.
Villa secured fourth place in the Premier League this past campaign to secure a seat at Europe’s top table next year, and although there was disappointment and setbacks in other competitions, it was an incredible achievement for Unai Emery and the players who have continued to push on over the last 18 months.
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Martinez, 31, has enjoyed great success at international level with Argentina in recent years, and he will undoubtedly have been wanted by many of the top clubs around Europe.
However, he continues to play a pivotal role in our progress and development under Emery to become a more competitive side reaching higher levels, and he insists that there is more meaning to reaching these goals with Villa as he continues to make club history and write his name into club folklore.
“Now is when the psychology comes,” he told Ben Foster on the Fozcast. “What’s next? How can I be motivated when I’ve already reached my dreams? I always find a way. I wanted to get Aston Villa in the Champions League. I was obsessed with it. I won the World Cup after 38 years or so with Argentina, I won the Copa America after 30 years. We’d never beat Brazil in the Maracana. The first qualifier they lost in history was against us in December.
“I always find huge targets. Let’s say you play for Man United, you qualify, you finish top four. Anyone can do it. Even if it’s Tottenham or Chelsea, they’re big clubs. Aston Villa had to wait 42 years – what if I can do it? What if we did it? It’s something that’s hard to do. It’s challenging myself. I said to my mom, my agents, it means more to stay at a club like Villa and deliver what I was dreaming. It’s like winning a title with Argentina. What’s next? It’s a title with the club.”
It’s wonderful to hear Martinez speak like that about his ambition and wanting to achieve these objectives in a Villa shirt moving forward, as we’ll hope to continue to build on the foundation we’ve set under Emery and become increasingly competitive when it comes to winning major honours.
Naturally, it will be difficult to sustain and show consistency in establishing ourselves as a top-four side in the Premier League, while facing the best teams around Europe in the Champions League next season will be an incredibly difficult assignment that we’ll need to adapt to in order to start to feel comfortable about being at that level.
Nevertheless, as we hope to continue to strengthen the squad this summer and build a group capable of improving further, Martinez will no doubt have a vital role to play in helping us make winning silverware and pushing on again a reality.
