EMILIANO MARTINEZ has given up the No.1 shirt at Aston Villa for a superstitious reason.
The Argentine has won the traditional goalkeeping number one jersey since he arrived from Arsenal.
Martinez, 31, joined the Villans in 2020 in a deal worth £20million and has gone on to become one of the best in the Premier League.
For the upcoming season, the goalkeeper will now wear a new squad number.
He will wear the No.23 for Aston Villa, which will match the number he wears for the Argentine national team.
Martinez has admitted he made the change due to being superstitious and his success in wearing it internationally.
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He explained: “Well, it’s been, I think four seasons the number one.
“So, I won all the trophies with the national team with the number 23.
“It’s the day my boy was born on.
“I want to bring silverware to the fans, to the Villa.
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“I’m really superstitious, to be fair, so changing to 23 [this season].
“It’s a real special number for me and my family.”
For Argentina, Martinez has won the World Cup once and the Copa America twice.
This season he will be feature in the Champions League after helping the Villans to a top-four finish last term.
Manager Unai Emery is hoping to achieve something special with Villa in Europe’s premier competition.
He told talkSPORT: “I got to the semi-finals with Villarreal three years ago.
“That was fantastic, we enjoyed that. Now I want to do the same here.
“My objective at the beginning is to play more than eight matches.
“We will enjoy the Champions League by being competitive and successful.
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“The draw is not relevant because we are going to face the best teams in Europe, in Spain, in Italy, in Germany, in France.
“Some teams I’ve played before and I want to enjoy it.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
