Amid speculation over his future, Emiliano Martinez has once again indicated that he’s fully focused on Aston Villa and achieving his objectives with us first.
While it’s largely outside noise that is causing the question to be asked, Martinez’s agent, Gustavo Goni, spoke to Sportitalia this week and while he echoed the sentiment that the Villa goalkeeper wants to achieve his ambitions with us, he naturally also left the door slightly open to a potential exit.
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Aside from the one interview that he did with France Football, with quotes via Ole, in which the Argentine World Cup winner hinted at the possibility of being tempted to look elsewhere to realise his hope of winning the Champions League, Martinez has been consistent in expressing his love for Villa and what he wants to achieve with us before anything.
He has reiterated that point once again, as per the comments below, and it’s hoped that this will now draw a line under speculation over his future as it does sound pretty clear that he is ready for the challenge ahead of playing a leading role in our pursuit of success under Unai Emery.
“I want to achieve something that no one achieves, or it’s been hard to achieve,” he told Michael Calvin’s Football People podcast, as per The Express and Star. “And obviously, people were saying, after the Copa America after the World Cup, Emi is going to go and play Champions League and he’s going to leave.
“And I’m thinking, yeah, that’s the easiest part. You know that that’s easy leaving now in January going to a club playing the Champions League and all that. It seems everything is easy. Actually, it was a real challenge for me.
“Winning a World Cup for Argentina after 36 years? Yes. Beating the champions of America after 28 years in the Maracana? Yeah, that was a challenge. Winning the Finalissima against the champions of Europe was a challenge.
“And now we need something for Aston Villa after 30 years? I don’t know how long it was. 40 years? That’s a challenge. You know, that’s a challenge. And that’s something I’m made for – for challenges, for not always having the easy way out.
“And (in Unai Emery) we’ve got one of the best managers for winning things in Europe. So I’m up for the challenge.”
Now, it would be naive to think that things don’t change quickly in football and that there is absolutely no chance of seeing Martinez leave Villa this summer.
Various other factors will dictate that, including possible interest from other clubs and significant bids that will perhaps be difficult to ignore.
However, it doesn’t seem as though Martinez can be any clearer at this point as to his mindset and what he wants to achieve in a Villa shirt, and he clearly wants to do something special and memorable with us before even entertaining the idea of looking elsewhere.
The rumours will likely continue in truth between now and the end of the season, but the full focus of all concerned is on finishing this year as strong as possible, and hopefully keeping our key players, adding reinforcements, and really challenging at the top end of the Premier League table in Emery’s first full season at the helm.
I think the media should be making a bit more of this story. So many footballers see getting to play for a ‘top’ team as their ambition. It’s pretty poor really. A meaningful trophy is one you’ve invested in early and done the hard yards, helping the team get there. A real challenge, and it is so refreshing to hear a player expressing that directly.