Aston Villa have sealed ultimate upgrade with Zion Suzuki - He's been built 'in a lab'

Zion Suzuki has been a perfect signing for Aston Villa.

The Japanese international signed from Parma this summer, and had a huge task on his hands immediately.

Replacing Emi Martinez, who signed for Chelsea, was never going to be an easy task for Unai Emery.

A World Cup winner and twice holder of the Yashin Trophy, the Argentine was literally the best goalkeeper in the world.

But, it's a testament to Suzuki that his loss hasn't been felt at all.

That continued on Saturday, as Aston Villa welcomed Premier League leaders, Manchester City to town.

Zion Suzuki is complete opposite to Emi Martinez

If Martinez was erratic yet solid, his replacement is the opposite of that.

Suzuki has that huge frame and uses it to his advantage by getting himself set in the correct position every time.

Martinez used to be somewhat all over the place, but still managed to make the save more times than that.

Owen Hargreaves said it best while covering the City game on Saturday for BBC Sports, after a string of impressive saves.

"Zion Suzuki has been created in a lab, he's a great goalkeeper, great size and great feet," he wrote.

"He's a good shot stopper. His distribution too, long or short."

Zion Suzuki by the numbers vs Man City

In the first half alone, the keeper made a huge impact.

With three saves, he prevented 1.13 expected goals against the Premier League leaders, who increased pressure after going behind early.

On top of that, he also punched clear once to alleviate pressure.

With six recoveries and 86 per cent of his passes finding their target, he was the ultimate presence of calm at the very back.

This is exactly what he'll need to do for the second half to make sure that these three points stick.

Emery is proving every week that he's one of, if not the best, manager in the Premier League and perfect signings like this only help that case.

Suzuki and the makeshift defence ahead of him are performing wonders, so imagine what will happen when the squad is fully fit.

It's going to be another wonderful second half of the season to look forward to.