Aston Villa are reportedly now prepared to move forward with Emiliano Martinez this season despite his desire to leave over the summer.
The 32-year-old was heavily linked with a move away from the club all summer, and speculation was rife on deadline day that he was waiting for a switch to Manchester United to materialise.
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As the transfer deadline came and went, no deal was done for the Argentine international, and after being left out of our matchday squad against Crystal Palace this past weekend, there have been major doubts and questions over where do we go next with him.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Villa are now ‘happy to continue’ with Martinez this season as he isn’t expected to leave now, while it’s added that he’s prepared to stay too.
While that offers some much-needed clarity on the situation, the process of reintegration and earning the respect and trust of his teammates and the Villa fans again will be an interesting one in the coming weeks.
The expectation is that an apology to his teammates will clean the slate internally, but it remains to be seen what the reaction is from the Villa faithful if Martinez is named in the starting line-up after the international break.
Personally, there’s no real issue with a player wanting to leave. Martinez isn’t the first, and he certainly won’t be the last. However, it’s the manner in which a player goes about it that matters. He lacked professionalism over the weekend as Unai Emery deemed him not focused enough to feature against Palace.
That’s not acceptable from a player with such an important influence within the team, and particularly in a really difficult moment for us after a rough start to the season.
His form will ultimately dictate whether or not he keeps his starting berth, with Marco Bizot now pushing him for that position. However, it would certainly be a surprise if this isn’t Martinez’s final season with us, and whether it’s in January or next summer, we should move him on with the process of identifying his successor beginning now to ensure that we land the right target.
It’s a shame the issue was delayed for so long as we’ve seen other touted targets over the summer move elsewhere with Joan Garcia, Lucas Chevalier and Senne Lammens now unavailable. Time will tell if we’re able to find a more suitable option over the next six to 12 months as although Martinez is staying for now, it surely won’t be for much longer than this campaign.
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