Emiliano Martinez’s agent is the latest to join the battle to redeem the Aston Villa star, insisting that the criticism the goalkeeper has faced is strange to those who know him.
Martinez was one of the stars of the World Cup, playing a key role throughout the tournament in Qatar and saving two of France’s penalties in the final to ensure it was Argentina who walked away with the trophy.
While the world saw the best of his goalkeeping abilities in that game, they also saw the negative side as Martinez used his aggressive style to his advantage.
This was seen during the penalties, where he often employs gamesman ship and big celebrations to get into the head of his opponents.
It’s a tactic that works for him but also sees the Aston Villa man heavily criticised in the media, something his agent, Gustavo Goñi, cannot understand.
“At the age of 20, Dibu told you that he was going to play for the national team. It was something that he had in his head and he was going to fulfil it in any way,” TNT Sports report him saying.
“Dibu is already setting new goals to keep himself at this level. He is a very simple boy, that’s why it makes me laugh when they want to sell him as the bad boy.”
It now remains to be seen what further heights Martinez can hit in the remainder of his career having been the definition of a late bloomer so far.
A return to Argentina at some point later in his career would make a lot of sense, with many south Americans choosing to do that as their careers dwindle down.
Like many Martinez started his career in his homeland but unusually he never played there, instead being plucked from Independiente’s youth system early by Arsenal.
And his agent admits the Aston Villa man would like to make a return and play there at some point, but only if it was under the right circumstances.
“When Dibu Martinez left Independiente for Arsenal, the Independiente management asked us to resign our percentage. And we did it because we were confident that he was going to have a good career,” he added.
“Dibu would have liked to play at Independiente. Hopefully at some point the context of the country will change and his children will be able to see him play in Argentina.”
