Unai Emery to hold talks with Emi Martinez at Aston Villa as Argentina question marks emerge
Unai Emery and Emi Martinez look set to hold crunch talks at Aston Villa in the coming days.
Martinez looked destined to join Manchester United on deadline day after links with Ruben Amorim’s side reignited in the final days of the window.
As the hours ran down towards the final curtain, Martinez even called Lisandro Martinez to force a Villa exit, but a deal away from Villa Park never went through.
Now, issues of how Martinez can return to action with Villa have been raised, looking ahead to the rest of the Premier League season.
Emery could now be set to hold a conversation with Martinez to outline his future for club and country.
This article includes exclusive comment from former Aston Villa scout Bryan King.
Unai Emery must sort Emi Martinez problem
There is no getting away from the fact that the 33-year-old is coming under heavy scrutiny from the claret and blue faithful.
After missing Villa’s 3-0 defeat against Crystal Palace, the relationship with fans was poor, something which wasn’t helped by his attempts to push a switch to Old Trafford over the line.
Now that a move hasn’t gone through, the keeper has to lick his wounds and return to action with the Villans, but not until Emery has given his approval.
Former Villa employee King believes both the Spaniard and Martinez will want the shot-stopper to return, with his international future also on the line.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, King said: “He needs to sit down with Emery and have a good talk with him and sort out his problems for this season at least.
“Emery’s job now is to say ‘we’ve got to progress, and you’re our number one.’
“If he doesn’t play football, I’d certainly put a question mark over him if I were the Argentina manager.
“If his attitude is wrong for Villa, it will probably be wrong for him to be named in the World Cup squad for Argentina.
“I would imagine that Martinez will come back as number one. He’s the best goalkeeper there, regardless of what’s happened.“
Emi Martinez has work to do at Aston Villa
The Argentina international has no room for error anymore at Villa Park.
In years gone by, fans could accept a mistake or two, knowing just how good the ex-Arsenal man can be when called upon.
That courtesy will have now gone out the window as many supporters not even acknowledging his existence on social media in days gone by.
That will soon change if Martinez is to return to the field for Villa, but he has to hit the ground running and earn the trust of the fanbase all over again.
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