Aston Villa won’t sell star for under £60million as there’s ‘no urge’ despite Tottenham interest

Ciaran McCarthy
Emi Martinez, Aston Villa, February 2023

Any side that wants to sign Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez will reportedly have to part with £60million, as Tottenham have been named as a potentially interested side.

It’s difficult for a goalkeeper not in the top half of the table to be effective and the stats show it. Of course, keepers down the bottom end of the table tend to save a lot of shots, because they face a lot.

That’s the simple nature of not being at a big side. However, they also let the ball in more often than a goalkeeper at a big side does, again, due to the sheer volume of shots they face.

Since Martinez has been at Villa, he’s been able to keep sides at bay enough to keep a lot of clean sheets, but hasn’t yet finished in the top half of the league.

The season that followed Villa narrowly avoiding relegation saw them finish 11th. That was Martinez’s first season, which isn’t a coincidence.

The Argentine kept 15 clean sheets in the 2020/21 campaign. He followed that up with 11 clean sheets last season and has kept seven as yet this term.

He also won the World Cup last year, and recently admitted he wants to “try to win” the Champions League.  He would also “like to win a title with Aston Villa” but is realistic with those expectations currently as they are in a “growth phase”.

As such, realising those goals could take him elsewhere, and Villa aren’t against the idea of Martinez spreading his wings and moving on to a bigger side.

However, they’d want to be properly compensated for losing one of the world’s best goalkeepers.

GIVEMESPORT names Tottenham as an interested side, and states they would have to make Martinez ‘one of the most expensive goalkeepers in the world if they want to lure him away’ from Villa.

That report continues to say the expected fee to let the goalkeeper go is ‘around £60million’. That’s because Villa believe his ‘value is at a premium on the back of his World Cup success’.

Despite that, ‘there is no urge to push for a sale’. That’s little wonder, given how effective Martinez has been for Villa over the course of the past three seasons.

Whether Tottenham, or any other side, would be willing to pay £60million for the Argentine remains to be seen. If not, Villa would surely be happy to keep one of the world’s best in their ranks.

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