Martinez happy with choices as Villa on brink of glory

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez believes he made the right choice by staying at Aston Villa after nearly leaving the club last year.

The 33-year-old World Cup winner was close to exiting Villa Park at the end of the 2024-25 campaign following a tearful wave and goodbye to the fans after the final game against Tottenham.

And now the Argentina international is one game away from being crowned a European champion as Villa face Freiburg in Istanbul on Wednesday in an attempt to win their first trophy in 30 years.

Martinez joined Villa in September 2020 and he has now pledged his love for the club ahead of the Europa League final.

He said: "I said goodbye and I cried when I left my family from Argentina to England, and I'm still with family.

"Sometimes football can change, managers come and go. It doesn’t mean I don’t have full respect and love for the club. I had a commitment with Aston Villa, I am a World Cup winner with Aston Villa and I won two golden gloves.

"I will always and forever love this club no matter what. Some day I’ll retire and someone else will go between the sticks.

"We have a top coach (Unai Emery) – We don’t wish [to have] anyone else on the bench apart from him leading us to a European final.

"When we stick together and fight together we can beat anybody. I am really proud to stay and I made the right choice."

Martinez hopes his side can do the business before penalties on Wednesday but says he loves competing in them.

He added: "I always have shoot-outs in my mind. It’s something I really enjoy, it’s like different competition, I don’t know how to explain it.

"Hopefully 'Ginny' (John McGinn) scores two goals and we finish in 90 minutes but if not I prepared and back myself every day of the week in shoot-outs."

Captain McGinn has been with the club since 2018 and helped the club get promoted from the Championship and now onto one of the biggest stages in Europe.

The 31-year-old has also played a key part in Villa’s fine season having scored 10 goals across all competitions.

Asked whether leading Villa out at a European final will be proudest moment of his career, he replied: "I would say so, yeah. It has been a brilliant journey, full of ups and downs, close moments, very close to going back to the Championship.

"It fills me with pride as to where the club is now and it also fills me with pride as to where this club could go, like the manager has touched upon, this isn’t something we want to come here, celebrate and have a fanfare, we want to be focused on this match.

"We know how difficult it is to get to a final.

"But if you ask me on a personal level, throughout the years I have been here, definitely this is the proudest moment as captain here."

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