Emiliano Martinez has revealed his finger will never return to normal after he played through injury to represent Argentina at the World Cup.

Martinez broke and dislocated a finger in the warm-up before playing for Aston Villa in their Europa League final triumph over Freiburg in May.

The 34-year-old told Argentine journalist Gaston Edul’s YouTube channel that he cried after seeing x-rays having feared he would be ruled out of Argentina's World Cup title defence.

After receiving support from Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni, Martinez explained a decision was taken to avoid undergoing surgery that would have ruled him out of the tournament.

Martinez was instead provided with a special glove from Adidas to protect the injured finger, which he admitted meant he could not grasp the ball properly.

'It will never go back to how it was,' Martinez said. 'I am still playing with pain.'

'The day before Algeria I was diving with one arm, diving like a zombie.

'If I put my hand down I was seeing stars. It was brutal. Every single night I was crying because my finger looked like a sausage.

'But these are the risks you take for the national team, I’d do it again.'

Martinez added that a summer transfer to Italy – with Juventus having targeted the star – ultimately collapsed as a direct result of the injury.

'I got an x-ray and it was broken again,' Martinez said. 'That is when a transfer to a club fell through because of the finger.

'They said it was possible for me to play like that, that I needed surgery, but Chelsea didn't, they didn't care. One day I will need surgery.'

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