Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero has hailed Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on his Instagram story after he won the Lev Yashin trophy at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday night.
The duo won the 2022 World Cup together with Argentina, with Emiliano Martinez playing a huge role in his country’s success in Qatar.
From his penalty heroics to his heart-stopping save in stoppage time of extra time against France, those performances by the 15th-placed Ballon d’Or rank may never be topped again.
On top of that, Emiliano Martinez played a pivotal role in Unai Emery’s Aston Villa returning to Europe for the first time in over a decade, as well as starting the current campaign in a stellar fashion, with the Midlands outfit now pushing for Champions League football.
The rise of the 31-year-old, who struggled for many, many years at Arsenal, has been quite remarkable and deserved given his invaluable performances.
But when the news filleted through that Villa’s number one is officially the best goalkeeper in the world, Tottenham defender Cristian Romero wrote on his Instagram story: ‘Congratulations. Well deserved. The best goalkeeper in the world’.
Emiliano Martinez – the best goalkeeper in the world
In the summer, there were suggestions that Spurs wanted to sign the former Arsenal man, but Villa kept their man despite a number of clubs knocking.
Villa were very clever in penning down Martinez to a new long-term contract months before the 2022 World Cup because major tournaments always put an extra spotlight on players.
Either way, the next aim for Martinez is to try and push Villa to the Champions League.
With 12 home league wins on the bounce, sitting fifth in the table, one point off fourth-placed Liverpool and five clear of sixth-placed Newcastle.
Then the Midlands side have a real chance of living their long-term dream of returning back to the big time.
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