Forget Emi Martinez - Aston Villa could now sign £35m new goalkeeper to supercharge 2025/26 season

Emi Martinez was crowned the best goalkeeper in the world during a season where he was worse than at least half of the shot-stoppers in the Premier League, a confusing cocktail that’s seen Aston Villa slap a £40 million price tag on the 32-year-old.

With a contract keeping him at Villa Park until 2029, Martinez may very well see out the rest of his career at the top level in Birmingham, but a sharp downturn in form and the availability of a £35m virtuoso who’s proven at the highest level means Unai Emery’s best option may be to twist on the World Cup-winning star.

James Trafford has been the belle of the goalkeeping ball this summer but ultimately looks set to return to Manchester City with Pep Guardiola’s side holding both a buy-back clause with Burnley for £40m, and the right of reply on bids from opposing teams.

Meanwhile the bizarre transfer saga around Mike Maignan’s failed move to Chelsea means he’s still available but aged 30, the Frenchman isn’t guaranteed to provide any more long-term solutions at the position than the incumbent.

However, Porto’s Diogo Costa would tick all the boxes and allow Villa to send Martinez to Old Trafford for a profit, while refreshing their defence with a Nations League champion who’s already made over 200 senior appearances and has experience in the Europa League aged only 25.

Why Diogo Costa can be Villa’s next great ‘keeper

A name unknown to most fans outside Portugal before last summer’s Euros, Costa made headlines when he saved every one of Slovenia’s penalties in the round of 16 shootout - all well-hit shots away from the centre of the goal.

With his opposite number the accomplished Jan Oblak, who saved Cristiano Ronaldo’s spot-kick in extra time but was powerless during the shootout, Costa more than held his own and produced a pivotal one-on-one stop against Benjamin Sesko to force penalties.

It was the second of three clean sheets he made in Germany - better laundry than anyone except Maignan - as Costa also kept a French attack including Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann at bay for 120 minutes before he was unable to repeat his heroics from 12 yards.

He backed up his 85.7% save percentage that summer (fourth out of 24 ‘keepers in the competition) with 74.1% over the course of last season’s Primera Liga, with Martinez posting 67.9% in the Premier League.

Costa posted a clean sheet almost every other game in both 2023/24 and 2024/25, and is similarly adept with the ball at his feet. His distribution is top-quality and Costa is comfortable operating outside his penalty area, even more than Trafford or Lille’s Lucas Chevalier who is another top goalkeeper target available this summer.

Time to cash in on Emi Martinez

Of goalkeepers who played over half the Premier League season, only six had a worse effect on their team than the Argentine, with the beleaguered Robert Sanchez and Andre Onana both recording better numbers for goals conceded against expected.

Martinez’s post-shot expected goals conceded minus goals against, a mouthful that effectively just means how much value the goalkeeper is adding in defence, was 0.8 over the course of the season, making him an average shot-stopper. By contrast, Martinez was the second-best full-time shot stopper in the division in 2023/24 saving 6.6 goals more than expected, and the season before that he was sixth at 2.6 per FBref.

While cult hero in B6, fans shouldn’t have to squint hard to see how Martinez could be the next player to run out of steam at Old Trafford following a big-money move à la Casemiro, with the football gods apparently punishing the Red Devils for how often Sir Alex Ferguson sold a player at the perfect time.

Manchester United are stuck between a rock and a hard place given the concentrated backlash Andre Onana received last season and have been linked with Royal Antwerp’s Senne Lammens, but the 23-year-old only has one full season of top-flight football under his belt and it would be a monumental leap to go from that to standing between the sticks for England’s biggest club.

However, whatever the reservations about his physical ability, Martinez is better placed than just about any other goalkeeper to handle the psychological strain of being number one for Manchester United.

So while it would be a heartbreaking goodbye, the opportunity to cash in on a 32-year-old player and sign someone who could well be even better long-term - while making a profit in the process - isn’t one Aston Villa should pass up lightly.