Toni Martínez has revealed he had to leave West Ham United earlier in his career, as they simply overlooked youth at the time.
Martínez, now 28-years-old and playing for Alavés, has been discussing his career in an interview with AS.
West Ham struggle
The striker started his career at Real Murcia before heading to Valencia in 2013. He spent three years with them before a €3m move to West Ham’s U23’s in 2016.
Toni Martínez spent the next six years with the Hammers but most of that was out on loan, enjoying spells at Oxford United, Real Valladolid, CF Rayo Majadahonda and CD Lugo.
His time at the club ended in 2019, when he joined Famalicão on a free transfer. He’s since played for Porto, spending four years at the Portuguese giants, before moving back to Spain.
While his record there was 32 goals in 140 games and has been decent at other clubs too, he was never given his chance by West Ham.
Despite 26 goals in 31 games for their U21 side, he was handed just three appearances totalling 220 minutes in the senior side.
No chance for youth for Toni Martínez
That’s something which Toni Martínez is still, seemingly, not very happy about. He believes that youth was simply overlooked during his time with West Ham.
“When I first arrived at West Ham, the club was heavily invested in developing young talent. However, following a change in ownership, they began pouring massive amounts of money into the squad,” he said.
“And after that, breaking into the team seemed almost impossible. Every single preseason, I’d show up only to find that they had signed a bunch of star players to fill the attacking spots.
“I’ve had to compete for a spot against the likes of Chicharito, Carroll, Arnautovic, Lanzini, Michail Antonio, Lucas Pérez… That’s why, with three years still remaining on my contract, I decided to leave and head to Portugal.”
Conversation with Pellegrini
Fortunately for the striker, he found a manager willing to listen to him in Manuel Pellegrini. And the West Ham boss was open to the idea of a contract termination.
“There had been so many loan spells by that point,” he added.
“I ended up forfeiting a lot of money, but terminating my contract was the best option for me. Pellegrini had just arrived; I spoke with him, and he understood my situation.
“I wanted to change the direction of my career but I was only being offered loan deals. I had a very good contract. But it wasn’t what I wanted.”
Now the striker can look back and feel the decision was a smart one. He’s carved out a career in Portugal, where he won the title, four cups and the super cup three times with Porto during his time there.
That justifies his departure from West Ham, where it seems the chance to stake his claim was never going to arrive.
