Aston Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendía has revealed how teammate Emiliano Martinez went the extra mile to ensure his compatriot joined him at Villa Park.
Buendía joined Aston Villa in a €38.4m deal from Norwich City in 2021, having established himself as the star of the show at Carrow Road during his time there.
He managed 24 goals and 42 assists in 121 games for the Canaries after joining them in a €1.5m deal from Getafe in 2018, starring in the Championship in particular.
He was hot property because of that, with several Premier League clubs all considering moves before Aston Villa won the race for his signature.
They brought him as part of a major rebuild that summer as they re-spent the money they had received from Manchester City for Jack Grealish.
And it seems that transfer happened because one Aston Villa man, Emiliano Martinez, who had arrived at the club the previous year, worked hard to make it a reality.
“His family is like my family, we know each other from before, we share the same city, the same representatives, before he signed here, he pushed for me to come to Aston Villa.
“He opened the doors of his house to me, his wife helps mine. It’s incredible to have him. Now that he is the best goalkeeper in the world, he gives a lot of confidence to the team. He’s a great goalkeeper, but above all he’s a good person.
“Before and after every game (at the World Cup) we sent each other messages. Except after the first game, I waited a bit longer, because knowing him I wanted to give him his space.
“When he came here, we congratulated him, we had a little party for him.”
