New Western Sydney Wanderers marquee Nicolas Martinez says he is targeting “at least one or two trophies” in his first season in Australia.
The Wanderers signed Martinez on loan from Olympiacos on Tuesday, with the attacking midfielder set to play a critical role in Tony Popovic’s plans to lead Western Sydney to their maiden Hyundai A-League championship.
Western Sydney missed out on the 2015-16 premiership by one point to Adelaide United and then lost the grand final 3-1 to the Reds, and speaking from the Wanderers’ pre-season tour of Japan, Martinez made it clear he wants to change the club’s reputation as the A-League’s bridesmaids.
“[The aim is to] take at least one or two trophies… I want to win,” he said in a club video.
“I don’t come here to be a tourist. I come here to achieve important things.”
The 28-year-old Argentine also wants to end the Wanderers’ poor run in the Sydney derby.
Popovic’s men will face Sydney FC at ANZ Stadium in the opening round of the 2016-17 A-League campaign having failed to beat the Sky Blues in the past seven derbies.
“Now it’s time to change this situation, I think,” Martinez said.
Martinez’s loan stint with Western Sydney will be his second consecutive year away from parent club Olympiacos, who he has yet to make a senior appearance for.
Olympiacos secured Martinez from fellow Greek club Panaitolikos in July 2015 for a reported fee of €600,000 but sent him to Anorthosis Famagusta in Cyprus last season where the playmaker made 38 appearances.
The Argentine shone in 18 months at Panaitolikos, scoring five goals and setting up another 10 in 43 games in all competitions.
With Popovic also having Mitch Nichols at his disposal as a central playmaker, Martinez claims he would be comfortably playing out wide.
“I’m a number 10 but can also play in the wings,” he said.
“Prefer if I play on the wing to be on the right side because I can go inside on my left foot.
“I like a lot to duel one against one, dribble past players and to assist my attackers – the striker, maybe, or the wingers.”
Martinez added that he has seen videos of the Wanderers’ AFC Champions League triumph from 2014, while he can’t wait to play in front of “by a mile, the best fans in the league”.
