Exclusive: Aston Villa could replace Emi Martinez with player who’s just won the Goalkeeper of the Season award in France

TBR Football can exclusively reveal what Aston Villa sources are now saying about Emiliano Martinez’s future at the club.

Martinez has once again been in fine form for Aston Villa, helping them reach the Champions League quarter-finals and keeping them in the picture for a top-five finish.

However, every Premier League club will have to be mindful of PSR this summer, and Villa have singled Martinez out as a potential sale to help in that regard.

TBR Football can also reveal that Villa are looking at two alternatives, including France’s newly-crowned Goalkeeper of the Season award.

READ MORE: Emi Martinez says Aston Villa have a ‘really good’ £1.3m talent who trains so hard

Aston Villa hold talks with Saudi Pro League over Emi Martinez as Lucas Chevalier and Joan Garcia in Unai Emery’s sights

TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey understands that Aston Villa have held talks with the Saudi Pro League about a prospective deal for Emi Martinez.

Intermediaries have been working on the deal and TBR Football revealed earlier this month that the Pro League were keen on Martinez.

Villa already have very good relations with the Pro League – having already sold Moussa Diaby and Jhon Duran for huge amounts of money in the last 12 months.

Those deals alone have gone a long way to making sure PSR is no longer a huge concern for the club.

However, in order to do more work on the squad this summer, another big sale could help – and Martinez could be the one to go.

TBR Football can now confirm that active talks have taken place and Villa themselves are doing work on other options in goal.

We can confirm that they have had contact with the camps of Lille’s Lucas Chevalier, one of the top keepers in France.

Villa have also sounded out Espanyol’s Joan Garcia, who many believe has been the best keeper in La Liga this season.

Sources close to Villa don’t deny that the club are looking at other goalkeepers away from Martinez.

The Pro League are busy doing their work on Martinez and they are confident of persuading the 32-year-old to be the next big name Villa player to move to Saudi Arabia.

What Lucas Chevalier and Joan Garcia could bring to Aston Villa

At just 23 years of age, Chevalier has shown he has what it takes to impress at the highest levels of the game.

He is already on 127 competitive appearances for Lille and has kept 44 clean sheets, including 11 in Ligue 1 this season.

This has led to Chevalier winning the Goalkeeper of the Season award for the 2024/25 campaign, as per the above tweet.

Garcia is also a young goalkeeper – 24 years of age – who has impressed at the highest level in La Liga.

He is currently on seven clean sheets for the season, but he has made the most saves in the Spanish top flight.

Arsenal have also been linked with Garcia, with reports suggesting he has agreed terms over a potential move to the Emirates Stadium.

However, with David Raya unlikely to be dislodged as Mikel Arteta’s No. 1, Garcia would likely be in line for much more game time at Villa.

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