Revealed: Aston Villa fans favourite in personality clash with Unai Emery as tempers fray – sources
Unai Emery publicly criticised Emiliano Martinez for his “embarrassing” decision to go up for a last-minute Aston Villa corner that enabled Arsenal to score on the counter-attack in added time and secure a second injury-time goal and a 4-2 win.
It was a rare dig at one of his players from the Villa manager and provided further fuel to thinly-veiled whispers that he does not get on with, or want, one of the star players at the club long-term.
Sources have told Football Insider that there is a genuine and deep-rooted clash of personalities between Emery and Martinez.
Martinez’s return to the Premier League club as a World Cup winner and undisputed first choice has done little to dissipate that discord.
It is understood, said one source, that the pair had a “fall-out” at Arsenal during the Spaniard’s 18-month spell as the club’s manager.
The friction is still present and Villa observers noted how Emery leaped at the opportunity to hit out at Martinez for the decision that effectively turned a narrow 3-2 defeat into a relatively heavy 4-2 home loss.
Plenty would say it was a perfectly reasonable course of action from the keeper and was a gamble worth taking in the final minute of the match.
What is beyond doubt is it will do little to douse the flames of acrimony between manager and star player.
He was widely regarded as the Midlands giants’ best player in the previous two seasons and key to them maintaining their Premier League status. His reward was a new and improved five-year contract in January 2022.
The Argentine has not been quite as effective this season with regular observers noting a drop in his once very high standards.
This comes amid a backdrop of interest from Villa in Sevilla keeper Yassine Bounou, as first revealed by Football Insider in November.
Emery is a huge admirer of Bounou, who plays for his former club and starred for Morocco at the World Cup and is widely regarded as one of the best keepers in La Liga.
In other news, Aston Villa close in on new signing as he arrives at Bodymoor Heath after permission is granted.