On May 16th, Emiliano Martínez appeared emotional and waved goodbye to fans after Aston Villa’s last home game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur. This immediately led to reports indicating the goalkeeper wants to leave Villa Park in the summer window.
A day later, we covered claims from Argentina that he’ll accept one of the big offers from Europe. It was followed with claims of Manchester United and Barcelona wanting the 32-year-old.
Four days later, Olé stated the stopper is very likely to leave if Aston Villa miss out on the Champions League. They eventually did and will play in the Europa League next season.
Unai Emery’s side appeared angry over these claims from Argentina. They told Marca that the World Cup winner won’t be let go easily.
Martínez has now joined the national team squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia. He had a chat with ESPN, who asked him whether he’ll leave Aston Villa, and TNT Sports have relayed his comments.
“I don’t know, I came here to play for the national team. That’s the only thing that matters to me right now,” he said.
When pressed whether he would like to change clubs as there’s interest from elsewhere, Martínez explained: “Um, that’s it… the market just opened, there’s still a long way to go.”
The Aston Villa star, with a contract is until 2029, hasn’t categorically closed the door on a potential transfer this summer.