Big news came out of Villa Park on Wednesday as Aston Villa announced that Emi Martinez had signed a new long-term contract at the club.
Since joining the club in 2020, the goalkeeper has become fundamental to the Birmingham outfit’s rise up the Premier League table.
Thanks to Martinez, Villa have won multiple points due to his magnificent stops between the sticks.
The Argentine completed one of his biggest objectives at the club last season as they finished fourth in the table and subsequently qualified for the Champions League.
Now, after a fantastic summer where he won his second Copa America title, Martinez has committed his long-term future at Villa, signing a contract until 2029.
Read more: Aston Villa fans react to Emi Martinez’s new contract.
Emi Martinez insists Aston Villa are ‘moving forward’
It is no secret that since Unai Emery arrived at the club, Villa have only been on the up.
The club have gone from fighting relegation to the Europa Conference League and will soon be competing in the Champions League.
Martinez has recognised this rise and has cited it as one of the main reasons behind why he signed a new deal.
He said: “With Damian [Vidagany] and Monchi, they have made an effort with me. Obviously, since I joined the club, the dream was to be in the Champions League, we achieved that so I decided to sign a new deal here.
“This club is moving forward, they are developing the stadium; the Villa store. I feel that the club is moving forward every year.
“I achieved everything as an international with Argentina and I still think we can win a trophy here. That is something missing from this club and I will have a go in the next four years to see if we can achieve that.”
Read more: Why Emi Martinez no longer has Aston Villa’s number one jersey.
Monchi deserves credit for keeping Aston Villa’s star this summer
As the transfer window nears its end, it seems as if Villa will be keeping many of its stars from the 2023/24 campaign.
So far, the only major players to leave are Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby with the former being mainly due to the threat of PSR.
However, the club have managed to hold onto players such as Pau Torres, Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez despite the speculation.
This will no doubt be a big boost for Emery for the season as he looks to progress the club even further.
