Emiliano Martinez: My finger looked like a sausage, I cried every night

Emiliano Martinez has revealed that his finger will never fully recover after playing through injury to represent Argentina at the World Cup.

Martinez fractured and dislocated his finger during the warm-up ahead of May's Europa League final, in which his Aston Villa side defeated Freiburg.

Speaking on Argentine journalist Gaston Edul's YouTube channel, the 34-year-old goalkeeper admitted he broke down in tears after seeing the X-rays, fearing the injury would rule him out of Argentina's World Cup title defence.

After receiving the backing of head coach Lionel Scaloni, Martinez explained that the decision was made to avoid surgery that would have sidelined him for the tournament.

Instead, Adidas provided him with a custom glove designed to protect the damaged finger, though the shot-stopper admitted it prevented him from gripping the ball properly.

"It will never be the same again. I still play through pain," Martinez said.

"The day before the match against Algeria, I was diving with only one hand. I was moving like a zombie.

If I tried to put my hand on the ground, the pain almost made me black out. It was brutal. I cried every night because my finger looked like a sausage.

But those are the risks you take for your national team. I would do it all over again."

Martinez added that a summer move to Italy, with Juventus having shown interest, ultimately collapsed as a direct result of the injury.

"They took an X-ray and found that the finger was broken again," Martinez explained.

"That's when a transfer to another club fell through because of my finger.

They told me it was possible to play in that condition, but that I needed surgery. Chelsea, however, were not concerned—it didn't matter to them. I'll need an operation one day."

Martinez, who joined Chelsea in the summer for £7.5 million, is currently recovering from a fractured jaw sustained in the team's victory over Everton earlier this month.