Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez may be a huge fan of Alejandro Garnacho, but the duo keep narrowly missing each other at club level. The pair have played together for Argentina and Martinez has previously praised his young international team-mate.
Martinez returns to north London
The shot stopper, who joined Chelsea this summer, was unable to prevent the Blues from slipping to a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday as he returned to the north London club, where he spent 10 years. His compatriot, Garnacho, who joined Aston Villa this summer on loan, came on with 15 minutes to go for his new side in a 0-0 draw with Hull City on Saturday.
While Martinez is a big fan of Garnacho, who has had his issues at his previous clubs, their Premier League tale is one of passing ships in the night. Martinez, then at Villa, almost moved to United in the summer of 2025, only for a late change of heart to crush the move and for United to sign Belgian star Senne Lammens instead.
A tale of two transfers
That same summer, United sold Garnacho to Chelsea for £40million. After a tough year in west London, Garnacho joined Martinez at Villa this summer, promising a link-up for the duo. However, Martinez then headed the other way, moving to Stamford Bridge in a £7.5m deal last month. While they've never played together domestically, Martinez is a big fan of the young winger and will not have been happy that United sold their young prodigy.
When Garnacho earned his first Argentina cap in June 2023, the goalkeeper lauded his new team-mate. He told TyC Sports: "He is a very humble guy. He came to work; he didn't talk a lot. He is very eager to play. The truth is that he's a little treasure and I hope we can mould him so that he gives us as much as Angel Di Maria."
Garnacho's road to Villa Park
Despite bursting onto the scene at Old Trafford, Garnacho ultimately fell out of favour at United and looked to have reignited his career with a move to Chelsea. He lasted just a year at Stamford Bridge, however, scoring once in 24 Premier League appearances. He now has his sights set on raising his levels at Villa Park.
"This is an important club which is going up really quickly, so I can't wait to get started here," Garnacho said after his switch to Villa was announced. "I was looking for a club to get my confidence back, so I can try to become the player I was a few years ago in my first years at Manchester United."
Emery urges patience
However, Villa boss Emery believes Garnacho still needs time to adapt to his new club. The Argentine forward has made just three substitute appearances for Villa so far this season, while he has also fallen behind academy graduate George Hemmings in the pecking order.
Emery said: "We have other players who joined who need to adapt to us in training, playing matches, and Garnacho is in this way. We need their performance to try to add things, working and getting numbers. Garnacho is in this way. How he is responding."
