End in Sight for the Latest Martinez Summer Saga
There’s an ancient Japanese proverb that states ‘the reverse side also has a reverse side.’ It’s a warning that the version of events you’re given is rarely the whole one, and Emiliano Martínez’s summer is about to test that. For months, Villa’s director of football operations and Martínez’s own agent said, on the record, that the goalkeeper wasn’t going anywhere. Now Zion Suzuki, a Japan international, is on his way to Villa from Parma. Were the denials ever actually false, or was the truth simply less settled than the club made it sound?
Damian Vidagany said it first, in July: “Martínez will STAY with us, we have no intention of letting him leave this summer.” Martínez’s own agent, Gustavo Goñi, backed the sentiment a few weeks later, telling Sky Sports his client had never asked to leave and would only move on Villa’s terms.
Emi and Juve
Originally, for Martínez to move on with Villa’s blessing, Villa wanted somewhere around €10-15m, and Juventus never seemed willing to go near it, reportedly trying instead to structure something that helped Villa’s Squad Cost Ratio rather than satisfied their bank manager.
That foundation has now shifted. Juventus are reported to have returned with an offer of €7m plus €3m in add-ons, against Villa’s stated €10m valuation. Still short of the asking price, it is nonetheless a figure that seems to have triggered Villa into action to secure a replacement.
Suzuki to Villa
Villa’s answer to the Juventus bid, in effect, has been Zion Suzuki. According to The Athletic, the 23-year-old Japan international has agreed to join from Parma for an initial €30m, potentially rising to €35m, on a five-year contract through to 2031.
It is a deal that only makes sense if Villa expect Martínez to exit, although it could also be a potential market opportunity, considering Villa have been clearly interested in the player for months now. The player is understood to have told Parma that Villa was his preferred destination.
Suzuki was reportedly very close to a Paris Saint-Germain move, with contracts drawn up, before his agents’ late demands, which allegedly included a €5m commission, a guaranteed starting role next season, and a loan move to a Champions League club in the meantime, saw PSG walk away.
With Villa having Champions League football next season, and not shy when it comes to paying agents, there’s no doubt that Suzuki was reassured that Martínez is moving on, or could move on.
Martínez, like Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa, was suddenly and publicly given four weeks off following his World Cup involvement, despite the players being on the original Super Cup squad list, with little justification beyond the usual language about player welfare after a long summer.
Either movement was already afoot behind the scenes, or the old adage that an idle mind is the devil’s playground has allowed a potential move to materialise.
It is unlikely you’ll see Martínez rock up at Bodymoor Heath on Monday morning, if the sentiment of the press reports is true.
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Is Suzuki Premier League Ready?
Whatever the data on Suzuki’s distribution and shot-stopping that would have impressed Emery, or even the fact PSG were seriously in for him, none of that gives the reassurance that only comes from seeing a goalkeeper battle-tested in the Premier League: commanding his box under the trend of set-piece dependence that is growing in the English game, and instilling confidence in a back line before it has had time to learn how he communicates.
You only have to look at André Onana’s move from Inter Milan, a keeper whose reputation grew in Serie A and the Champions League, after his move from Ajax, only to get exposed by the Premier League, when he moved to Manchester United.
Without a pre-season to build understanding of Emery’s system and Villa’s backline, the relatively inexperienced Suzuki will be learning on the job and may not be rushed in.
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