Emi Buendia admits his Europa League heroics justify rejecting moves to leave Aston Villa.
The Argentina international scored and set up Morgan Rogers’ clinching third goal as Villa swept Freiburg aside in Wednesday’s final.
The 29-year-old was Villa’s man of the match in Istanbul, having scored a brilliant second goal just before half time to put Villa in control.
Buendia’s future was in doubt 12 months ago with the club open to selling him following a low-key loan at Bayer Leverkusen in the second half of last season, but he remained determined to stay.
“Yeah, there could be that chance [to leave] but I always tried to refuse everything,” said Buendia, who signed from Norwich for £38m in 2021.
“I wanted to stay here, I wanted to play for this club. If the chance never come, maybe the ways will be different, but I think until the last moment I could play for this club and achieve good things.
“I worked so much for this. I’ve been working in everything to have a night like this.”
Buendia also missed the 2023-24 season with a serious knee injury but has fought back to become a key part of Unai Emery’s team.
He added: “I’ve had some very bad moments, I’ve been very low, injuries, finding myself in a difficult momentum to play more often, but I kept believing in myself all the time.
“I always trusted my work ethic and also I always thought I could be important for this club and team. I have to enjoy it.”