Unai Emery wanted to sign £20m Aston Villa player when he was appointed by Villarreal
While Emiliano Martinez was still at Arsenal, Unai Emery was eager to get him to sign with Villarreal.
This season, Emiliano Martinez has been a major factor in propelling Aston Villa into title contention. Naturally, since coming to Villa Park, the Argentinian has had an incredible couple of years.
He pushed his way onto the Copa America team, which Argentina won. Of course, the South Americans also won the World Cup the previous year, and Martinez stood out as the competition’s finest goalie.
Unai Emery wanted to sign Emiliano Martinez for Villarreal
Now, Martinez is helping the Villans put themselves amongst the pace-setters in the Premier League. So it is fair to say that his £20 million move from Arsenal has worked out brilliantly for both him and Villa.
But perhaps events could have played out differently had Unai Emery got his way.
According to The Times, Emery – who had worked with Martinez at Arsenal – wanted the goalkeeper to follow him from North London after he was appointed by Villarreal in 2020.
Emery was appointed that summer At that stage, Martinez had been in goal for Arsenal for around a month after Bernd Leno sustained an injury in the defeat to Brighton.
Game-changing signing for Aston Villa
The 31-year-old has, predictably, been among the best in the Premier League thus far this year. Only Guglielmo Vicario of Tottenham Hotspur is outperforming his projected goals conceded, according to FBRef.
Furthermore, Martinez has plenty of years left to play at the greatest level without any hindrance.
In the end, he had to wait over ten years for a legitimate opportunity to play in the Premier League and for his country to play internationally.
It will seem to him like he is just beginning.
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