Emiliano Martinez has opened up about how he thought about retiring when he was 24, as the Aston Villa goalkeeper told Ben Foster’s YouTube channel.
The 29-year-old admitted that he was ‘that low’ on-loan at Spanish side Getafe that he was going to pack it in.
At the time, Martinez would still have been on the books of Arsenal, before making a career-changing move to Villa Park for £17 million (Sky Sports) many years later.
Villa fans will be pretty glad that he decided against that call because he is now one of the best in the business.
But, when the Copa America winner was asked about the lowest moment of his career, he issued this response.
“When I went to Getafe on-loan,” said Martinez “I was actually thinking about retiring.
“I was that low. I would have been 24.”
During the early stages of Martinez’s career, he was an error-prone and erratic keeper.
The Argentina international went on loan to Oxford, Sheffield United, Rotherham, Sheffield Wednesday, even Wolves, Getafe and Reading.
He never played more than 20 games for one of those clubs, which proves the early struggles that he went through.
But, Martinez never gave up and it just proves that the rewards are always there if you continue to get up from the canvas.
It’s a credit to Villa’s number one and those around him because he can rightfully call himself one of the best keepers in the Premier League today.
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