Aston Villa boss Unai Emery spoke about Emiliano Martinez on Thursday, and has reiterated that they’re on the same page in terms of the project at the club.
There has been plenty of speculation over the 30-year-old’s future in recent months, which was to be expected to an extent given the influential role he played in Argentina’s World Cup success last year.
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Particularly after comments he made last month though, as quoted by Ole, where he appeared to leave the door open to a potential exit given his Champions League ambitions despite insisting that he was desperate to enjoy success with Villa, it raised concern over a possible departure.
Martinez seemingly allayed those fears this week as he spoke about his objective at Villa as well as the vision of the owners and Emery, and the Villa boss has arguably further dismissed those concerns with his latest comments on the Argentine shot-stopper.
Much was made of his comments on Martinez after our defeat to Arsenal last weekend given the manner in which we conceded the fourth goal. However, Emery was dismissive of that being a big deal and was instead keen to stress his importance in the side and is convinced that he’ll play a pivotal role for us moving forward.
“I have confidence in him,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “We spoke on Monday, we were speaking about everything. The last action [vs Arsenal] is only one small action in the game, and really it wasn’t the real impact or reason we lost the match. We spoke about how we can improve, the team, the objectives.
“He is a very good guy, he is a very good goalkeeper. He improves a lot, he now has experience – he is the best, no? He is the best goalkeeper for us. We have to enjoy with him. He is very committed with us, with Aston Villa. And now, more even than before, because he won the World Cup. And for him, it’s very important.
“But he knows as well, his new challenge, is now with this club because this club signed him three years ago. That is the reason he is, as well, very happy.
“My conversation with him is around how we can do something together and the challenge for him now is here.
“And to try to do, in the next matches, the next year, this project, improving and trying to use his experience helping other players, helping the club, helping to support Aston Villa.”
That all sounds very promising and ultimately it should now be enough to dismiss ongoing talk over Martinez’s future heading into the summer transfer window.
The Argentine international is an influential figure in the side and will be an important presence for us as we try to improve and compete at a higher level under Emery moving forward.
In turn, with the suggestion that the pair have spoken about not only what we want to achieve in the coming months but also beyond that, it’s a positive thing and hopefully clears up any uncertainty as we plan how to strengthen the squad ahead of next season.