Marco Bizot is not a name which most Aston Villa fans will be familiar with
Marco Bizot is due to sign for Aston Villa
Marco Bizot is due to sign for Aston Villa(Image: Photo by DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)
Aston Villa are expected to make goalkeeper Marco Bizot their second summer transfer arrival.
The 34-year-old is in the final year of his contract with Stade Brest and is now set to sign on with Villa.
He would likely replace Robin Olsen, who left the club upon the expiry of his deal with Villa at the end of last month.
There is, of course, uncertainty about Emi Martinez’s future at Villa Park, given that he is open to a new challenge and the club also need to reduce their wage bill.
Martinez, who turns 33 years of age later this year, is one of the top earners at the club after penning a long-term deal last August, while his value in the market will also depreciate after this window.
It means Villa could be recruiting another goalkeeper in the coming weeks, but Bizot would provide quality and experience as an understudy.
He was Stade Brest’s number one when the French club finished third in Ligue 1 last term, and he kept 13 clean sheets.
Last season, Bizot played in nine of Brest’s 10 Champions League games, while he also kept the third-most clean sheets in the French top flight.
In Brest's 1-0 win over PSV back in December, Bizot was awarded man of the match after making five crucial saves.
His 75 per cent save ratio was the seventh-most in Ligue 1, and for comparison, Emi Martinez recorded a save percentage of 69 per cent.
Bizot made 94 saves in Ligue 1 in 2023/24, which was comparable to the 96 Martinez made in the Premier League, before the Brest ‘keeper made 74 last term.
The Dutch goalkeeper’s ‘post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed’ figure came in at -6.8, however, while it was +2.22 in 2023/24.
That metric essentially works out how likely ‘keepers are to save a shot, and cumulatively over a season, this can indicate the shot-stopping ability of goalkeepers. Positive values suggest an above-average ability to save shots.
A strong element of Bizot’s game is his ability to engage with danger outside of his box, recording 53 defensive actions outside the penalty area last season, compared to Martinez’s 35.
Bizot wasn’t asked to build up like Martinez while playing for Brest, registering 104 fewer short passes, but his accuracy of 98.9 per cent doesn’t indicate any major issues.
He also recorded the highest progressive passing distance of any player in Ligue 1 last season (18,621 yards) and in 2023/24 (18,973 yards).
Finally, where Martinez and Bizot differ once more is in claiming crosses, with the current Villa stopper claiming 56 of the 498 he faced in the Premier League, while Bizot claimed 33 of 459.
Bizot joined Brest from AZ Alkmaar for a minimal fee in the summer of 2021, after he spent four years with the Eredivisie club.
"When I arrived in France, I wanted to raise my game," he told Ouest-France in September 2022. "The level in the Netherlands isn't as good. I wanted to develop by playing against better teams and better players."
He made 164 appearances for AZ, which is 16 more than he racked up as goalkeeper for Brest.
A single cap for the Netherlands came in Spain in 2020, which was a 1-1 draw, while he was last called up to the national team squad in March 2024.
Moving to the Premier League has been a dream of Bizot’s, despite his game time at Villa Park not being guaranteed.
“I hope that’s the next step for me,” he told The Athletic back in December 2019. “It would be the best way to make myself better.
“It would be amazing to be part of a team in the Premier League and just to live in England. Plenty of good Dutch keepers have played over there, so hopefully clubs will think ‘hey, a Dutch keeper is interesting!’
“I think our mentalities are the same, the Dutch and the English; hard-working, professional, open and friendly. Let’s see.”
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