Unai Emery wanted to sign £20m Aston Villa player when he was appointed by Villarreal

Unai Emery wanted to sign £20m Aston Villa player when he was appointed by Villarreal
Unai Emery was keen to sign Emiliano Martinez for Villarreal while the goalkeeper was still at Arsenal.

Emiliano Martinez has played a huge role in elevating Aston Villa into title contention this season. Of course, it has been an amazing couple of years for the Argentinian since he arrived at Villa Park.

He forced his way into the Argentina squad for the Copa America, which they won. And of course, the South Americans also lifted the World Cup a year ago, with Martinez proving to be the best goalkeeper at the tournament.

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.

But within two months of Emery’s appointment, Martinez had signed for Villa.

Game-changing signing for Aston Villa
Unsurprisingly, the 31-year-old has been one of the best in the Premier League so far this season. According to FBRef, only Tottenham Hotspur’s Guglielmo Vicario is performing better against his expected goals conceded.

And there is no reason why Martinez cannot continue to play at the very highest level for a number of years yet.

Ultimately, he spent the best part of a decade waiting for a proper chance in the Premier League and on the international stage.

He will feel that he is just getting started.