'We have to fix it' – Emery unsure on Martinez's Aston Villa future
Emiliano Martinez was left out of Aston Villa's squad for their 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, heightening rumours of a transfer away.
A frustrated Unai Emery conceded that he and Aston Villa must fix their relationship with Emiliano Martinez amid rumours of a deadline-day exit from the club.
Martinez was left out of Emery's squad for their 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday, with reports suggesting a move to Manchester United is on the cards.
The Argentina international's future has been a subject of debate in recent months, with a mooted switch to the Saudi Pro League failing to materialise.
However, United are now reportedly interested in a move for the 2022 World Cup winner, after seeing Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir struggle early on this campaign.
Emery bizarrely responded to questions regarding Martinez's future at the club before the match by repeating new addition Marco Bizot's name three times to a reporter.
Bizot endured a difficult game between the sticks, conceding a penalty after bringing down Daichi Kamada, with Jean-Philippe Mateta dispatching the resulting spot-kick.
"We have to fix it with him. Tomorrow the transfer window finishes, and we are expecting something hopefully to improve the squad. But we keep calm," Emery told Sky Sports.
"One of the situations we are speaking about is Emi Martinez, but we will see tomorrow.
"Then we try to get the balance and try to work after the break and try again at Everton to recover our mentality."
Since joining Villa from Arsenal back in 2020, only Everton's Jordan Pickford (577) has made more saves than Martinez (531) in the Premier League.
Emery also alluded to some possible incomings ahead of Monday's deadline after seeing his team slump to their second defeat of the new season.
Indeed, Villa have now failed to win any of their opening three games of a league campaign for the first time since 2017-18 in the Championship.
The loss was their heaviest home defeat since a 4-0 rout by Tottenham in March 2024, while they are the only team in the Premier League yet to score in 2025-26.
The Villans have only made three signings thus far, welcoming Bizot, Yasin Ozcan and Evann Guessand to the club, but Emery is hoping for more arrivals.
"Yes we need some players, but now we have what we have, and we need to try to get more balance again, more than in the transfer window," Emery added.
"You get balance with the players tomorrow after the transfer window and after the break we have a lot of players with the national team.
"This is one of the developments we have had in the three years here, a lot of players with national teams, and we are playing in Europe... sometimes keeping this level is not easy.
"We are frustrated when we are not able to have the level of performance, but I am confident that we can find the balance and the structure in everything, and our mentality too."
