Aston Villa are flying high under Unai Emery and playing in Europe’s elite competition.
The job Emery has done at Villa Park has been incredible and there doesn’t seem to be any sign that the team will be stopping.
With Villa reaching the Champions League and playing in the best club competition in the world, it has resulted in players’ reputations rising.
That is happening right now because two Aston Villa players were ranked in the top 100 players right now – that’s something you wouldn’t have said when a certain Steven Gerrard was in charge.
FourFourTwo complied and unveiled the list and, to nobody’s surprise, the top five was dominated by Real Madrid and Manchester City players.
Ballon d’Or favourite Vinicius Jr, who scored at Wembley as Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final last season, came out on top.
Erling Haaland scores goals for fun, but he had to settle for second, with England’s Jude Bellingham third, Kylian Mbappe fourth and Rodri making up the rest of the top five.
The two Villa players who made the top 100 were Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martinez.
It shouldn’t be a surprise because they are probably the first two names on the teamsheet now and Emery’s most important players.
Emi Martinez and Ollie Watkins ranked in the top 100 players
What’s perhaps surprising is that Martinez was ranked 94th, despite helping Villa to the Champions League, proving to be a big game player again and again, as well as winning the Copa America again this summer.
“Has a player ever improved more on the back of winning the World Cup than Emi Martinez?” asked FourFourTwo. “Prior to Qatar 2022, Martinez was an excellent Premier League goalkeeper – as Aston Villa fans will tell you.
“But since then, the Argentine has taken his game onto another level becoming one of the best on the planet. Certainly not lacking in confidence, his recent clean sheet display against Bayern Munich showed just where his game is at.”
On Watkins, who was ranked 80th: “Something of a late bloomer, former Exeter City striker Watkins’ career has caught fire over the past 12 months. He netted 27 times for Aston Villa. last season and was a huge factor in their top-four finish, as everything clicked for a player who has no major weaknesses. His fine 2023/24 campaign was topped off nicely by his Euro 2024 semi-final winner for England against the Netherlands.”
Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez’s rise at Aston Villa
It has been an incredible journey for the duo at Villa, but their stories have been very different.
Martinez was a Premier League player, at Arsenal, but he couldn’t find that consistent run to become a number one until Villa came calling.
Fast forward to the present and Martinez is now a different animal at Villa, as well as becoming a World Cup winner during his time in the Midlands.
READ MORE: Emi Martinez explains what affects him most at Aston Villa as key Unai Emery issue identified
On the other hand, Watkins has come through the leagues of English football, getting signed up by Dean Smith and being consistent ever since.
There is now even talk that Watkins should lead the line for England because of the different quality he provides compared to Harry Kane.
