Over the past two years, Emiliano Martinez has been in an odd hold-up — seemingly agitating for a move and then later making public declarations that he had done nothing of the sort.
When Aston Villa held their open-top bus parade in Birmingham following their Europa League triumph, the 33-year-old grabbed the microphone, asserting that everyone who said he was going to Manchester United “was wrong”.
In reality, few people said he definitely was going there, aside from himself, which is why he spent last summer’s transfer deadline day at Villa’s training ground, Bodymoor Heath, waiting for a call about a move to Old Trafford that never came.
Even when it became evident that United were instead pursuing Senne Lammens, Martinez had not lost hope. Towards the end of the previous season, Martinez had been telling team-mates and staff around Bodymoor that he was moving to a top European club. It was why tears rolled down his face as he took photos with his family on the pitch following the final home match against Tottenham Hotspur.
In the end, no formal approach was made by Atletico Madrid or United until Martinez returned to Birmingham for pre-season, when Villa received a phone call enquiring about a loan proposal.
Villa were open to Martinez’s departure, provided they had a suitable replacement. Like they would do the next year, they scoured the market for contingency options and were impressed by Joan Garcia, Lucas Chevalier, Mark Flekken, Diogo Costa and Lammens.
Yet United’s offer was given short shrift. Villa would have demanded more than £30million ($40m), which United would have been reluctant to pay.
Martinez’s future had become an issue (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Martinez eventually left Bodymoor, accepting his fate, and went straight on international duty with Argentina. In this two-week window, to Villa and Martinez’s credit, they rebuilt bridges, overcoming the fact that Martinez was pushing so hard to leave that he did not play the previous match against Crystal Palace. When asked about Martinez’s future before that game, Villa manager Unai Emery repeatedly answered with the name of the Dutch goalkeeper they had signed that summer from AZ: “Marco Bizot, Marco Bizot, Marco Bizot.”
All parties parked further discussions over his long-term future. As is Emery’s way, there was no formal disciplinary action but Martinez was stripped of the vice-captaincy.
Even now, Emery believes Martinez is the best goalkeeper in the world. This was crystallised by the jubilant scenes in Istanbul. Martinez, at the front, hoisted Emery onto his shoulders, celebrating in front of Villa supporters.
Emery, having played it cutely for over a year, finally admitted — as Martinez trained on his own — that the goalkeeper wanted to leave a year earlier.
On Thursday, Villa agreed a deal with Chelsea for Martinez to join the west London club.
Sources close to the situation, who, like all others in this article, spoke anonymously to protect relationships, believed that while Martinez enjoyed a strong season, there was concern about late withdrawals before matches. On four occasions, Martinez pulled out of games during warm-ups, citing muscle issues.
Martinez did make silly errors last season, oddly developing a penchant for weak parries falling directly to an attacker and becoming less confident in dealing with aerial balls. But he remained pivotal in Villa’s most successful campaign in generations. There was the long pass to Jadon Sancho to seal Villa’s passage into the Europa League quarter-finals against Lille and the strong, claw-like save to limit Nottingham Forest in the semi-final first leg.
While his ego and bravado had to be managed, it is no coincidence that Martinez has played his best football under Emery and Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni, who both know what makes him tick.
Villa felt that although they had missed the boat to sell the Argentina international at his market peak, his value could not just be judged on transfer fee, with his presence in the squad outweighing that. Martinez had broken his right finger in the warm-up before the final against Freiburg, but, unlike other instances, he knew he had to play through the pain barrier. Sources close to the player were insistent he did not require surgery over the summer, and went on to feature in all of Argentina’s World Cup fixtures.
In many ways, the Europa League final was the crescendo of the first Emery era.
As had been the case a year ago, Martinez was available at the right price, even if there was less anxiety about him leaving, thanks to Bizot’s positive impact as the No 2. A mass overhaul of the goalkeeping department would not be needed. Bizot’s consistent performances as back-up meant Villa were more comfortable in going for a younger profile of goalkeeper who had scope to develop.
Martinez was clearly emotional on the final day of the 2024-25 season (Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
Martinez still did not appear enthused at the prospect of moving to a club in Saudi Arabia, so the key question was whether any other tentative interest from European clubs would harden. This came in the form of Juventus, leading to a delicate situation.
With Martinez away with Argentina for the World Cup, multiple sources grew in confidence that he would stay. Juventus were only prepared to offer symbolic, incremental bids — two sources close to the situation say they first asked for no fee — before going up to figures in the low millions.
This was far removed from what Villa wanted and was not well received. With Martinez’s high salary, Juventus hoped that just taking the salary on would be enough, but Villa asked for a higher fee. Personal terms between the Serie A club and the player were never going to be an issue.
Even at the end of June, there was an internal feeling that Martinez would stay. In the background, contingency plans were being made. Manchester City’s James Trafford was among the leading candidates — he has since signed for Leeds United — alongside Lens’ Robin Risser, but Zion Suzuki from Parma was preferred.
In July, Villa informed the intermediaries of prospective goalkeeper targets that it was unlikely they would move for their player.
A second saga in as many summers carried parallels — Martinez wanting to leave, but no suitors paying what Villa wanted.
“He’s a goalkeeper who wants to change teams, and we’re looking for competitiveness,” Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti explained to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
Negotiations with Juventus appeared to have broken down, with executives from both clubs confident enough to discuss publicly. Villa’s director of football operations Damian Vidagany told 365scores that Martinez would stay.
“The goalkeeper’s future is settled: he is staying with us, and we have no intention of letting him go,” said Vidagany. “The team needs his efforts and extensive experience, and he is a very important element in our project for next season.”
Fans passing a mural of Martinez on their way to Villa Park (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
Once it appeared any possibility of a transfer had diminished, the goalkeeper’s representatives moved quickly to express their happiness to stay.
Martinez’s head representative, Gustavo Goni, spoke publicly, insisting his client was happy at Villa, had not asked to leave, was excited to be back playing in the Champions League and lavished praise on Villa’s co-owner, Nassef Sawiris.
Increasingly, though, the question was whether it was now or later. There was an impression from some dressing room observers that Villa could and should be done with the perennial summer saga.
Villa had tracked Suzuki in successive summers. They had been in contact with Parma throughout this summer. The Japan international was deemed a well-rounded, high-potential goalkeeper, who could take to the Premier League quickly. If they had not moved for their priority target, they would have missed the window of opportunity and be left trying to replace Martinez next season, with options who, in Villa’s view, were not as good as Suzuki. Villa were emboldened by their sense that the 23-year-old favoured a move to them all along, despite a move to Paris Saint-Germain being advanced.
His availability, as talks between PSG and Suzuki stalled, meant dealing with the goalkeeper position now.
On Saturday, with Martinez due back to pre-season the following Tuesday, all fronts accelerated. Villa renewed interest in Suzuki and were prepared to pay Parma’s asking price of €30m plus a possible €5m in add-ons. By Sunday the clubs had reached an agreement, with Suzuki signing a five-year contract.
(Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
This brought Juventus back to the table for Martinez, who made an offer of €7m plus €3m in add-ons. While this was below Villa’s asking price, both parties were moving closer to a deal. Suzuki travelled to Birmingham on Sunday afternoon ahead of undergoing a medical the following morning.
Shortly after the Japan international landed, in true Martinez fashion, there was another twist. Juventus pulled out off their move for Martinez, despite agreeing personal terms, pivoting to Tottenham Hotspur’s Guglielmo Vicario. Sources from both clubs say the key reason was Martinez’s higher overall package, owing to his salary and the fee Villa expected.
On Sunday evening, August 16, The Athletic revealed the deal with Juventus was off, with Martinez due to report to training, which he did, for his first day of pre-season two days later.
Villa, in the meantime, were insistent that Suzuki’s agreement remained unaffected and that he would be Emery’s No 1. They would then work to help Martinez secure a move elsewhere.
Both a result of returning late and because his future lay elsewhere, Martinez trained away from the squad. This continued for a week, while his representatives offered him to clubs. One of which was Chelsea, who made clear they were willing to explore the possibility.
On Thursday evening, an agreement was reached over a deal worth £7.5million. Martinez will sign a two-year contract plus an option of a further year, leaving Villa, finally, for good.
Martinez departs as their greatest goalkeeper in a generation, probably in the Premier League era. Six years, 256 appearances and immense personal and team success, Martinez will be remembered fondly. After all, it is the eccentricities and character traits that have made him the unique, brilliant goalkeeper he is.
