Emi Martinez hits back at Premier League over public exclusion of Aston Villa star

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has taken a swipe at the Premier League for failing to include him in their announcement of players named in EA Sports' Team of the Year.

The Premier League had tweeted on Wednesday, acknowledging Arsenal's William Saliba, Manchester City's Rodri, Chelsea's Cole Palmer and Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah for making it into the line-up.

However, they overlooked Martinez, who responded by posting a picture of his award encased in a briefcase. The image displayed the trophy, a photo of the 32-year-old and his FIFA card rating of 94.

Despite the Premier League sharing images of Saliba, Rodri, Palmer, Van Dijk and Salah with their awards, Martinez was again omitted.

Aston Villa supporters reacted by sharing photos of Martinez with his award, with one fan commenting: "Tell me you have a big six bias without actually telling me."

Another added: "Disgraceful that you've missed out Emi Martinez. How you've not deleted this and put it right is baffling."

A further comment read: "Someone tell them which keeper got in this year?"

Martinez, who had a stellar season for Villa last year, played 34 out of the possible 38 games, kept eight clean sheets and made a whopping 95 saves, helping Unai Emery's men secure a spot in the Champions League.

However, this season hasn't been as robust as the previous one, with Martinez only managing to keep three clean sheets and making 57 saves, along with 32 high claims.

Since his move from Arsenal in 2020, the former Gunners goalkeeper has made a total of 188 appearances for Villa and has been the undisputed No 1 choice.

Despite only playing 38 times during his tenure at the Emirates, his move to Villa has seen him rise to become one of the world's most highly-rated goalkeepers, even clinching the World Cup with Argentina in 2022.

This article first appeared on the Daily Mirror.