Aston Villa have reportedly made a formal approach to Royal Antwerp over the signing of goalkeeper Senne Lammens, with Emiliano Martinez now expected to leave.
With a little over 24 hours to go before the transfer deadline, Villa look set for a busy late run in terms of both incomings and outgoings as our activity has sparked into action as expected.
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After months of speculation over his future at the club, The Athletic now report that Manchester United are in talks with Villa over the signing of Martinez, who is said to want to leave the club and is unlikely to play against Crystal Palace on Sunday night.
Further, Fabrizio Romano reports that personal terms have been agreed already and so now it comes down to the two clubs reaching an agreement, but it certainly sounds as though Martinez is as close as ever to leaving Villa, with updates likely to arrive quickly now ahead of the deadline.
The 32-year-old joined us from Arsenal in 2020 and has gone on to make 213 appearances for the club, and he has undoubtedly played a fundamental role in our progression during that period and has earned numerous accolades as well as success at international level.
While it’s a major blow to lose such an influential figure in the side, albeit his form certainly dipped last season, Villa have to move quickly to find a replacement if he is set to depart, and Fabrizio Romano reports that we’ve set our sights on Lammens, as we’ve made a formal approach to Royal Antwerp to sign him.
It’s added that Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa is also being targeted, but time will tell who emerges as our priority, and if terms can be agreed between both the clubs and the player to ensure that the switch goes through prior to the upcoming deadline.
There was undoubtedly a need for movement to spark Villa’s transfer window into life after a relatively slow summer, particularly in relation to new signings. That said, the late drama and disruption isn’t ideal as we prepare to face Palace in a crucial game this weekend after a poor start to the new campaign, and so the focus has to be on three points at Villa Park on Sunday night.
Nevertheless, while some supporters will no doubt focus on celebrating Martinez’s time with us and be grateful for the impact he made, the desire to leave and to move to Man Utd won’t sit well with many and will arguably sour the end of his time with us, but the priority for the club now has to be on ensuring that we’ve got a long-term solution between the posts, with a solid back-up option in Marco Bizot available to step in when needed now too.
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