Emiliano Martínez settling in at Palmeiras, set for bigger role in 2026 | OneFootball

Emiliano Martínez was one of the 12 signings for Palmeiras in the 2025 season. The midfielder arrived in February this year to compete for a spot in the midfield with Aníbal Moreno and Richard Ríos. Later on, Lucas Evangelista also joined and became another option for Abel Ferreira.

Richard Ríos left Palmeiras after the Club World Cup, sold to Benfica. Aníbal Moreno, with whom he shared playing time throughout the year, agreed to a transfer to River Plate. Lucas Evangelista, in turn, suffered a right thigh injury in October, has been recovering from surgery since then, and is still expected to be sidelined at the start of the season.

Thus, the Uruguayan, who has been regularly called up by Marcelo Bielsa for the Uruguayan national team, should have more opportunities and, consequently, if he responds well, gain prominence. He ended the year sidelined, treating a trauma to his left foot, but is expected to be available as a reinforcement when the squad reconvenes at the Football Academy on January 4.

Emiliano adapts quickly, but struggles with inconsistency

The Uruguayan had already had a brief experience in Brazil, when he played for Red Bull Bragantino. The 25-year-old was at Midtjylland, in Denmark, when he signed with Palmeiras until the end of December 2029.

As soon as he arrived at the club, the 25-year-old midfielder showed good adaptation and it didn’t take long for him to earn a spot in the team. Wearing the number 32 shirt, he was available to Abel for the first time in the 1-1 draw with Corinthians, in the first stage of the Paulista, and remained on the bench, as he did against Água Santa.

After that, he made his debut on February 13, as a starter, against Inter de Limeira and, from then on, went on a run of 20 games, 17 of them as a starter. It was during this period that he scored his only goal for the club, in the win over Corinthians in the Brasileirão.

The player had moments of inconsistency and arrived at the Club World Cup as a substitute, with the spot given to Aníbal Moreno. However, the Argentine got injured and Emiliano Martínez was called up and played both knockout matches as a starter, against Botafogo and Chelsea.

Emi Martínez, in the second half of the year, played 20 games, 12 as a starter and eight coming off the bench. He came on during the match against Corinthians, in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16, brought on at halftime. On that occasion, Verdão lost Aníbal to a red card in the first half. Martínez was also sent off, in stoppage time of the second half.

At the end of the year, with Martínez and Aníbal underperforming, Abel chose to play with Bruno Fuchs improvised in the position.

This season, he played 48 games and scored one goal. In addition, according to Sofascore data, he had 25 shots, 12 of them on target. The midfielder has a 87.8% pass completion rate and a 56.6% accuracy in long balls. Defensively, he made 76 tackles and 42 interceptions.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.