Unai Emery ready to draw line under Emi Martinez saga after tough Aston Villa transfer window
Villa boss Unai Emery is ready to bring Emi Martinez back into the fold after the goalkeeper missed out on a move to Manchester United.
The Villa boss is eager to draw a line and move on from an uncertain summer in which Martinez’s future only became clear in the final hours of the transfer window.
Emery decided to leave Martinez out of Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace over concerns the keeper had become distracted by renewed interest from United, who then opted to move for Royal Antwerp’s Senne Lammens on deadline day instead.
There is no suggestion Martinez refused to play against Palace and the hope at Villa is he will now be able to refocus with his short-term future at least clarified.
Villa have no intention of selling the World Cup winner to either Turkey or Saudi Arabia, despite those windows being open for another week, as it would then mean recruiting a free agent to compete with Marco Bizot.
In Martinez they believe, despite some indifferent form last season, they already possess a keeper who ranks among Europe’s best.
The 33-year-old, now away on international duty with Argentina, is scheduled to return to Bodymoor Heath toward the end of next week, with Villa back in action at Everton on September 11.
Emery hopes the closure of the window will allow his squad to settle after a summer in which numerous futures were up in the air.
Villa’s much-publicised position with regard to the Premier League and Uefa’s financial rules left them vulnerable to approaches for their best players.
Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and John McGinn were all the subject of interest from elsewhere and Emery believes the uncertainty has contributed to the team’s poor start on the pitch.
Writing on X after the window had closed on Monday night, head of football operations Damian Vidagany acknowledged the window had been even more challenging than expected, while also taking aim at the spending rules.
He wrote: “To get revenues and break the evil circle we need UNAI (sic), owners engaged, success, time and good players and good business people like Francesco Calvo!
“But mainly we need togetherness and unity.”
