Aston Villa line up their next No. 1
Emiliano Martinez has never been closer to leaving Aston Villa. According to The Telegraph, the English club have made an offer for Zion Suzuki and want to get the deal done quickly.
The message is clear. The 23-year-old Japanese keeper would come in as the new No. 1 straight away. Hard to send a more direct warning to the 33-year-old Argentine.
PSG were in for Suzuki this summer. The Paris club have now walked away, leaving Villa with a free run. The English side are convinced the Japanese international wants a move to the Premier League.
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Juventus move, but at a crawl
Juventus have also put themselves in the frame for the World Cup winner. The Turin club had originally hoped to land Suzuki on loan from PSG, before the situation shifted.
According to The Athletic, Juve have now come back with a new bid of €7m plus €3m in add-ons. Aston Villa want €10m up front. The gap is not huge.
Sky Italia played it down, though. This morning, the Italian outlet said talks between Juventus and Martinez’s camp are not at an advanced stage, despite a phone call on Saturday night. Turin are also weighing up the fitness issues the keeper had during the World Cup.
A weekly wage of €172,000
Martinez is currently earning €172,000 a week at Aston Villa. Not the sort of wage Serie A swallows easily.
The keeper would be ready to take a significant pay cut to make the move to Italy. That is often the point where deals like this either happen or die.
This is nothing new. Martinez was already at the centre of plenty of talk last summer, with Manchester United showing a strong interest. The difference this time is that his own club are openly planning for life after him.
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