£38m star ‘very motivated’ to play under Emery at Villa Park

Aston Villa winger Emiliano Buendia is motivated to perform under Unai Emery, journalist Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.

The Argentine has not always been a regular at Villa Park, but Jones cannot see him leaving the Villans just yet.

Emiliano Buendia

While Buendia was not part of Argentina’s World Cup-winning squad, he does have a cap for his country.

“It [playing for Argentina] was one of the proudest moments of my life,” the 25-year-old was recently quoted as saying by The Athletic.

“There are a lot of Argentinians in the world, so to be selected as one of the 40 players is amazing.”

Buendia later went on to add: “I tried to work hard to be a part of this World Cup but it wasn’t possible, but I will keep going and working for the next tournament and try to be there.”

What has Dean Jones said about Emiliano Buendia’s Aston Villa future?

Jones does not expect Buendia to depart Villa Park next month when the transfer window opens.

Speaking to GMS, the transfer insider said: “Buendia, he figured pretty strongly, to be fair, for Villa in the month leading into the World Cup. I’m told he’s still very motivated to produce, particularly under Emery, so I don’t think he’ll be heading out the exit door.”

Read more: January Transfer Window 2023: When Does It Begin, Rumours and Everything You Need To Know

Emiliano Buendia’s stats for Aston Villa

This season, Buendia has made 15 league appearances, but only seven of those have been starts. Across those games, he has scored just the one goal, as per Transfermarkt.

Villa signed Buendia from Norwich City in a deal worth up to £38m, as reported by Sky Sports. Considering that, the Villa Park faithful probably would have liked to have seen a bit more.

Opportunities, however, have sometimes been limited, with the Argentina international only making 22 Premier League starts last season (also via Transfermarkt).

Still, it does not look like Buendia is ready to quit just yet, which is understandable. He has not been completely overlooked during his time at Villa Park, while Emery’s arrival represents a fresh start for him and his team-mates.

Villa should not be too quick to give up on this relationship either. They invested a lot of money in Buendia, while the former Norwich man does possess quality.

In fact, according to WhoScored, Buendia was in the top three Villa players for key passes per game last term, averaging 1.4, so he definitely has something to offer.

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