How Aston Villa could lose Emi Martinez to Juventus for next to nothing as new price set

Emi Martinez is seemingly not going to be an Aston Villa player for much longer.

One of a few 'will they, won't they' transfer sagas defining Villa's summer transfer window, Martinez's future has long been up for discussion.

The 33-year-old is contracted at Villa Park until the summer of 2029, but growing reports over recent months have been suggesting he's looking for pastures new.

Martinez has been with the Villains since the summer of 2020, and has gone on to make 257 competitive appearances since joining from Arsenal.

With his current focus on retaining the World Cup with Argentina, back in the West Midlands, talk of his potential transfer exit has been getting louder.

Serie A giants Juventus appear set on bringing him to Turin, and their chances of doing so have reportedly just increased significantly.

Juventus chip away at Aston Villa's Emi Martinez asking price

It was claimed on Wednesday that Juventus CEO Giovanni Carnevali and their chief football officer Frederic Massara were meeting with Martinez's agent in the hope of reaching an agreement.

Overnight, it seems as though those talks were productive, as a fresh report again from Sky Sport Italy is now claiming that a full agreement will be reached over his transfer in the coming hours.

It's stated that Massara and Aston Villa chief Roberto Olabe share a strong relationship, and this has reportedly helped Juve get the Villains to reduce their demands for Martinez by a fair bit.

The report claims that Villa's original asking price was €15million (£12.7m), but this has now dropped to around €6-7m (£5.1-5.9m) - an incredibly low sum for a player still performing at an elite level.

Juventus are said to have been informed that Martinez does indeed want to come and play for them, and so perhaps this has also benefited them when it came to moving the needle on his price tag.

Why Juventus are pushing hard for Martinez

Juventus currently have three senior goalkeepers on their books: Mattia Perin, Carlo Pinsoglio and Michele Di Gregorio respectively.

However, Perin is 33 and Pinsoglio 36, and both of whom have been backup goalkeepers for many years now in their respective careers.

The key to Juventus' pursuit of a new goalkeeper lies in Di Gregorio's situation though, with reports in Italy having been detailing the likelihood of a summer transfer exit for the 28-year-old for months.

Di Gregorio has proven himself to be a quality keeper too, having kept 13 clean sheets from 30 Serie A games last season, conceding just 25 goals to boot.

So, with Juve set to cash in on the Italian, they look to have spotted an opportunity to use their aforementioned relationship with Aston Villa and Martinez's interest in a Turin switch to their advantage.