Aston Villa can confirm Emi Martínez and Emi Buendía have travelled to join up with the Argentina squad with the permission of the club in accordance with FIFA’s international match call-up rules.
Both players have agreed to make themselves available for Argentina’s vital first two World Cup qualifying matches against Venezuela and Brazil but will not take part in the third international match against Bolivia.
These arrangements mean that Martínez and Buendía will only miss our Premier League match with Chelsea before being available for the visit of Everton to Villa Park on 18th September in order to comply with the UK’s Covid quarantine regulations.
There are no easy solutions as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to adversely impact professional sport. After careful consideration we think this plan respects the long established call-up rules and balances the importance which top players place on representing their countries in important matches with the best interests of Aston Villa.
We wish all of our players who are joining up with their national teams the best of luck in their upcoming matches.
