Aston Villa have reportedly held talks with the representatives of Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes as he emerges as a priority target this summer.
Speculation was rife over the future of Emiliano Martinez last year, but despite significant talk about a potential exit, he remained with us and went on to play a crucial role in our success last season in finishing fourth in the Premier League table and winning the Europa League.
However, the rumours have begun to build again already this summer with Juventus paired with an interest in the Argentine shot-stopper, and it appears as though Villa could be planning for the future in the event that he does move on this time round.
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According to The Athletic, Restes has emerged as a serious option for Villa, with the club opening talks with his representatives while it’s suggested that the French side are open to selling their talented goalkeeper, but a fee of around £20m will likely be required to prise him away.
However, it’s important to note that it’s added in the report above that Villa want Martinez to stay, but if a decent offer was to arrive from an interested party in the coming weeks and months, then the club could potentially open the door for a departure and look for a long-term solution between the posts.
Zion Suzuki is also mentioned as a possible target after impressing for Parma and Japan, but Restes is seemingly emerging as the top option if we do make a change in that position this summer.
Restes, 21, has come through the youth ranks at Toulouse and he has since gone on to make 107 appearances at senior level for the Ligue 1 outfit. In those outings, he’s kept 27 clean sheets and conceded 143 goals, while he’s been capped 19 times at U21 level for France.
Evidently, he has impressed the Villa scouting and recruitment team enough to appear on our radar, and so hopefully they’ve identified a goalkeeper that fits Emery’s style of play in terms of being efficient on the ball to help build play from the back, but naturally and more importantly, his goalkeeping skills have stood out as he’ll have big boots to fill if he does arrive as Martinez’s successor.
Time will tell how the situation plays out as it seems early in the negotiations still, but Villa could be making their move to replace Martinez this transfer window, and in turn start to refresh the squad and lower the average age of the group. An exit for our influential goalkeeper would be a blow given how big an impact he has made during his time with us, but it may well start to make sense for all concerned to move on this summer.