Aston Villa’s eventful transfer window took another turn on Saturday, as a change at the goalkeeper position looks to be looming.
Fabrizio Romano reported that Villa are “working on a deal” to sign Parma’s Zion Suzuki, while the future of Emiliano Martínez is still up in the air due to continuous interest from Juventus.
Suzuki was expected to seal a transfer to PSG for a package worth around £30m, but the deal collapsed amid claims the goalkeeper’s agent requested excessive commission fees. Now Villa seem intent on getting a deal done for the Japan international.
What happens next remains unclear.
There were some claims that once Suzuki had signed for PSG, he was then going to be loaned out to Juventus for this season, however, the Italian club reportedly became impatient and pivoted to other targets in recent days.
One of those options is Martínez, but according to Romano, there are others including Éderson and Guglielmo Vicario.
He also reported that talks between Juve and Martínez are not at an advanced stage, and made reference to the injury the goalkeeper has been dealing with since the Europa League final, when he fractured his finger in the warmup.
However, it does sound as if Villa are moving quickly to try to secure Suzuki’s signature. It is hard to believe they would sign off on that deal while not knowing what the future holds for Martínez.
That logically leaves two explanations.
Either Villa are confident Martínez will indeed leave, whether to Juventus or another mystery team, or they intend to carry out PSG’s original plan for Suzuki, loaning him elsewhere after signing him and rolling with Martínez for another year.
Given that Villa are not really in a financial position to spend £30m on a player they are not going to use, and reporting from The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell that Martínez has wanted out for two years, the second explanation seems much more unlikely than the first.
Suzuki, who turns 24 next week, is one of the most talented young goalkeepers playing in Europe. He was ranked as the 8th best ‘keeper in Serie A last season by WhoScored with a 6.76 rating. Martínez had a 6.78 rating, which ranked 2nd in the Premier League.
No goalkeeper with at least seven appearances in the top five European leagues aged 23 or younger had a better WhoScored rating than Suzuki last season.
He had a strong World Cup with Japan, ranking as the 5th best goalkeeper at the tournament with three appearances, earning a 7.06 rating. Suzuki is comfortable in possession, which is a non-negotiable in an Unai Emery team.
Whoever was to come in to replace Martínez would have big shoes to fill, as he has established himself as one of the top goalkeepers in the world and is almost inarguably Villa’s best in the Premier League era.
Suzuki would require patience as he has just 120 club appearances in his career. He moved to Parma from Belgian side St. Truiden in 2024, so only has two years of experience in a top five league.
His talent is very exciting though, and as a long-term play, he would make sense as a Martínez replacement.
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