Unai Emery appears to have ruled out the possibility of Emiliano Martinez leaving Aston Villa this summer.
Martinez has been heavily linked with a move away from Villa Park and appeared to wave goodbye to Villa fans after their final home game of the season.
The Argentina World Cup winner has attracted interest from multiple foreign clubs, while Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United are reportedly eyeing shock moves.
Arsenal have identified Martinez as a possible target in case Real Madrid launch a move for Mikel Arteta’s No. 1 David Raya.
Manchester United, meanwhile, are open to replacing Andre Onana if the right deal presents itself and are known admirers of Martinez.
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Emery was quizzed on Martinez’s Aston Villa future ahead of the club’s final Premier League game against Manchester United on Sunday.
TNT Sports reporter Jules Breach said: ‘Will today potentially be the final time we see Emiliano Martinez play for Aston Villa?’
‘No way,’ Emery replied.
Breach continued: ‘Definitely not? He’s staying at the club?’ before Emery said ‘see you later’ before thanking her for the interview and walking off.
Martinez had an afternoon to forget at Old Trafford, receiving a straight red card for bringing down Rasmus Hojlund as he raced through on goal.
The mistake proved incredibly costly as Aston Villa went on to lose 2-0 to Premier League strugglers Manchester United and narrowly miss out on Champions League qualification.
Villa ultimately finished sixth in the Premier League, level on points with fifth-placed Newcastle United who qualified for next season’s Champions League despite losing at home to Everton.
Emery was left aggrieved, however, as Villa had a goal controversially ruled out when the score was still goalless.
Morgan Rogers put the ball in the net but it did not stand as the referee adjudged Rogers had kicked the ball out of Altay Bayindir’s hands and the fact he blew his whistle before the ball went into the net meant VAR was unable to intervene.
‘The TV is clear with the move but of course, we have to accept it,’ Emery said. ‘It was a mistake. A big mistake.
‘The match we played overall in 90 minutes with the red card and this goal disallowed, it was a key moment. but overall, they did more.
‘But we showed resilience with one player less. We could have scored one goal and it would have been a good opportunity to continue and keep the result.
‘We didn’t perform enough today to get a good result but we could get it, in case some decision weren’t like it was.’
Asked whether he had spoken to the referee about the incident, Emery added: ‘Yes, I told him but he knows it.’
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