It has gotten quite silly when reading about all of the players who will soon be allegedly leaving Aston Villa. Of the many claims out there, a straight-up swap of Emiliano Martínez for André Onana has even been proposed. Whatever ends up happening, in the worst-case scenario, Villa would need fair compensation for the world's best goalkeeper.
The latest from reporter Fabrizio Romano should help to ease any concerns for the time being, at least. As shared on X, Romana reported that Barcelona would be looking to make a permanent signing rather than a loan deal for Joan García.
This makes it clear that the La Liga side are in the latter stages of finalizing an agreement for the Espanyol goalie. Considering Barcelona were one of the linked potential destinations for 'Dibu,' it looks like that option is now off the table.
Granted, there is still a chance of the Argentina international joining Manchester United still. For the time being, Villa fans can take a slight sigh of relief, knowing that one of the options for Martínez now appears firmly off the table.
At this stage, even though the summer has just started, there are only so many options for where Martínez could end up at this point. Man Utd is still an option, or a club in the Saudi League, but to have one of the significant possibilities now taken off the table narrows it down a bit more and makes it less likely that Villa will want to make a deal anyway.
Monchi has already shared how much he would like for Martínez's story to continue at the club. With this latest Romano as well, a potential replacement option is now taken off the board from Villa's perspective.
Picture is starting to become clear for Aston Villa GK situation
If Monchi and Unai Emery were to make a move of this significance now, it would make more sense to wait a year if García has the first option in their minds. Someone like Lucas Chevalier is still available and could have been the preferred target all along anyway.
In a game of speculation and guesswork, two options in terms of someone leaving Villa for one specific club and someone joining can now be erased from the many hypotheticals.