Emi Martinez: Aston Villa's king of the wind-up merchants reveals his softer side

King of the wind-up merchants when prowling his penalty box, away from it Martinez is a quietly-spoken family man. Truth be told, Villa’s goalkeeper is a bit of a softie.

“Sometimes, when you see me from the outside, you think: ‘He looks a show-off’,” says Martinez. “No, I’m just a normal guy, a family man. But when it is about winning, I try everything I can to win the game.”

The image of Martinez the family man could hardly be starker than when he is speaking now, son Santi and daughter Ava by his side, wife Amanda chatting to friends a few metres away.

Just minutes earlier, Martinez has announced he’s signed a new contract at Villa and has now arrived in a temporary backstage area at the newly-renovated club shop to chat with journalists about his hopes for the future under Unai Emery.

Inevitably, conversation comes round to some of the on-field antics which have made him adored in Argentina and at Villa Park but disliked, perhaps even hated might not be too strong a term, elsewhere.

For that behaviour, Martinez offers no apologies.

“I don’t swear, I don’t insult anyone,” he says, when asked about his ability to get under an opponent's skin. “I just try to help my team – that’s all.

“I never insult any religion, any player, any mum, or no-one. I always respect the players. I just want to win the game.

“I never try to wind fans up, I never do that. I just try to slow things down when the game is against us. I try to kick the ball as hard as I can to the other side.

“If you keep yourself steady and you don’t insult any religion, any mums, I think you can do whatever you want.”

Martinez admits the emotions can at times be tough to control. Despite claiming to have never crossed the line, last season’s Europa Conference League tie at Lille, when he famously received two yellow cards on the night – the second in a penalty shoot-out but stayed on the pitch, stands out as one moment when things went a little too far.

“I thought I was being sent off,” he says now. “I think everyone in football did. So I was lucky. But then because of that I missed the semi-final at home in front of the fans, so after all that it was disappointing.”

Then again, Villa did win the shoot-out, with Martinez the hero, just as he was for Argentina at the 2022 World Cup and during two Copa America triumphs.

And however much he might live in the moment on the field, there is plenty about his off-field preparations which is calculated.

The 31-year-old reveals himself to be a creature of routine, which includes pilates or yoga sessions 48 hours before a game, a prayer before kick-off and weekly meetings with sports psychologist David Priestley, with whom he has worked for the past six years.

Martinez is fiercely superstitious too. It is why this season he will wear No.23, the number with which he has won his three international titles.

It is also where those aforementioned cuddly toys come in. Amanda gave him two to take with him to Qatar 2022 and they have become a good luck charm, travelling with Martinez to each match. There are pictures of his children plastered over his shinpads.

“She said: ‘You are going to bring the golden cup home’. I was 40 days away from the family and I did it,” he explains. “I always keep a picture of them, on my shin pads, the teddy bears. I keep them, my family, with me everywhere I go.”

Whatever methods Martinez has used, whether by design or feel, there is no doubting they have paid off. In the space of barely four years he has gone from a little-known understudy at Arsenal to one of the most recognisable players in the world.

Still he wants more, most obviously a winners’ medal with Villa to go with those earned with Argentina. Last season might have been fantastic but Martinez warns Unai Emery’s team must get better. Villa conceded 61 goals in the Premier League last term and reducing that number is one priority for Martinez and goalkeeper coach, Javi Garcia. Martinez credits the latter from making him more of an all-round keeper.

“Javi and Unai made me more like a centre-back player, covering defence, sweeping,” explains Martinez. “I wasn’t sweeping until Unai came in, but I’m good at it.”

He adds: “If we can reduce the amount of goals we are conceding, I think we have got more chance of being in the top four and winning a title, something that has been missing for a long time,” he says. “It is something that the fans really want.”

Martinez is bullish about Villa’s chances in their maiden Champions League season, joking during a question and answer session in front of supporters he is thinking more about who they face in the final than what next week’s group stage draw might throw up.

With the cameras off the ambition remains but he is more reserved, instantly dismissing the suggestion this Saturday’s visit of Arsenal is an early season clash between title contenders.

“It’s going to be a little bit harder than everyone thinks,” he says. “We had to sell players, which Unai didn’t want, so it is a work in progress.

“With players coming in, they need to adapt to the new system and so it is not easy for Unai either.

“We are not title contenders. You can see that we sold two or three good players that we had.

“We want to go on a cup run, maybe even win the Carabao Cup or the FA Cup. But there is no way we can challenge for the title.”

Martinez saw enough, however, during the conversations with Villa’s president of football operations Monchi which took place during the Copa America, to convince him he is in the right place to realise his dreams.

“I love it here obviously but I wouldn’t stay at a club where I don’t see progress,” he says. “Because I want to achieve things, I want to win things, I want to keep trying to be the best goalie in the world if I can. They showed me the plan, the plan of Unai, who he wants to sign.

"We know how Unai works and it is amazing. I want to be in a club where they are moving forward.”