Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez responds to Emi Buendia message amid exit rumours
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has taken time from considering his club future to react to team mate Emiliano Buendia’s latest post.
Martinez is linked with a move away from Villa Park this summer, with Manchester United interested in signing the goalkeeper.
The 32-year-old has been at Villa for five seasons after he was previously at Arsenal for eight years, and had to contend with numerous loan spells.
Martinez has also won the World Cup and won numerous accolades since becoming number one at Villa Park.
Buendia’s celebrations liked by Martinez
Buendia took to social media (6 July) to share a message to his wife on her birthday.
The post included pictures of Buendia and his family enjoying the birthday celebrations.
His team mate at Villa and with Argentina, Martinez liked the post and responded with two love hearts.
The 28-year-old spent last season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen after his previous campaign had ended early due to an ACL injury.
Villa could be forced into sales amid PSR sanction
Football Insider verdict
Villa manager Unai Emery will be desperate to keep Martinez at the club this summer.
The Argentine has made a huge impact since joining from Arsenal which has been one of the key reasons behind Villa’s rise up the table in recent seasons.
| Appearances | 97 |
| Goals | 10 |
| Assists | 9 |
Villa are now consistent European contenders partly thanks to Martinez’s excellent shot stopping, fine reactions and leadership skills.
Losing Martinez would create big gloves to fill, not something which would come cheap.
The club have been playing on the edge of PSR rules, and have come close to previously breaching rules.
Alongside Chelsea they have been fined for breaching UEFA financial rules and they could be prevented from registering new players for UEFA competitions next season.
The club need a positive bank balance by the end of this transfer window to avoid any sanction.
Therefore, Emery may have to make a decision on Buendia, who only appeared 11 times at Leverkusen in his loan spell.
With Morgan Rogers in the team, it looks unlikely Buendia’s chances would be limited and regular playing time would be of greater guarantee elsewhere.
Fellow midfielder Jacob Ramsey has also been linked with a move away, with Tottenham interested in signing the 24-year-old.
Next season could be a tough one for Villa if they are not shrewd operators in the market.