It has been six weeks since Juventus reportedly agreed to personal terms with Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez, the clear-cut No. 1 choice in goal for a new-look Bianconeri front office that very much wants to move on from Michele Di Gregorio. The problem with the move not happening in quick fashion has been two-fold:
- Martinez was about to start Argentina’s title defense in North America.
- If they were to sell him, Aston Villa have been demanding a price in which Juventus don’t want to pay, with the Champions League-bound Villans reportedly demanding at least €10 million for the 34-year-old Martinez.
But now with the World Cup coming to a close over the weekend, Juventus have a quite large hope coming to the fore: Martinez’s concentration is no longer on trying to win a second
world title; instead, he can now try and play his hand when it comes to where he will be playing next season.
That is what we’re being told by La Gazzetta dello Sport. Juventus’ hope now that Martinez’s time at the World Cup is over following Argentina’s loss to Spain (despite his record-setting best efforts) means that he can now hold conversations with his current club about potentially having his next club be in Turin. It wouldn’t be the first time in which Martinez could try and do such a thing, with last summer telling us that Martinez attempted to request a transfer and sign with Manchester United before Aston Villa ultimately ended up keeping him.
Now, who knows if Aston Villa will actually budge because, by all accounts, they are maintaining their stance of not wanting to sell Martinez ahead of their return to the Champions League this coming season.
But Martinez clearly has a desire to try and move to Juventus this summer. If he didn’t, he would have told the Bianconeri to kick rocks. Instead, he agreed to personal terms with Juve on a three-year deal worth €5 million net (plus bonuses) per season. That is what Juve CEO Giovanni Carnevali and the rest of the front office is banking on — that agreement will be the thing that shows Martinez can try and make it happen.
It takes two to tango, though. And who knows if Aston Villa want to part ways with a goalkeeper who is still very good despite being in his mid-30s (and playing with a broken finger ever since the Europa League final).
But as you watched the World Cup final on Sunday and you saw Martinez make save after save after save, you probably couldn’t help but think how much a stable presence like that Juventus need in goal. And, at some point, you wonder if they will pay what Aston Villa wants and be assured of getting the goalkeeper they truly want rather than pivoting to an uninspiring option like Guglielmo Vicario or somebody of that ilk.
