A few weeks ago, the line of thinking was this: Juventus’ interest in Emi Martinez was very well known, but Aston Villa clearly needed to line up a replacement before they would even consider their World Cup-winning goalkeeper go. Juventus were in discussions to send young keeper Giovanni Daffara to Parma (albeit on loan at the time), and subsequent rumors followed that said Aston Villa were interested in Parma’s current keeper, Zion Suzuki.
Dots were being connected by many a-folks in their minds,
including yours truly. Wheels felt like they could be in motion. The goalkeeper triangle of sorts was theoretically being created.
But as the deal for Martinez drags out and we don’t really know if Villa were come down from their demands, could Juventus just cut out the English part of the equation and just do business with a club they’ve already pulled one deal off with this summer?
According to SportItalia’s Gianluigi Longari and later Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio on Friday, Juventus have conducted initial contacts about a potential move for Suzuki as new CEO Giovanni Carnevali continues the search for a new starting goalkeeper to replace Michele Di Gregorio. Suzuki, who just came off a strong run of performances at the World Cup with Japan, has been Parma’s starter the last two seasons, although that could very well change with Daffara now on the roster and looked at as his potential replacement. Suzuki has suitors in the Premier League in the form of Aston Villa and Leeds United, meaning Juve would be going up against clubs with more resources at their disposal.
Parma reportedly want €30 million for Suzuki, who has a contract at the Tardini through 2029.
As part of Di Marzio’s report on his website, he noted that “there is more concrete interest in Suzuki from the Premier League . For this reason, Guglielmo Vicario remains in pole position.“ Now, that second part is the interesting one — especially since we have considered Martinez to be ”in pole position” for a few weeks now. Does that mean the move for Martinez is essentially done for? Does it mean Vicario is the most likely option since he’s guaranteed to be leaving Tottenham this summer?
So many questions. Not very many answers — at all.
But when it comes to Suzuki, it would be a hefty investment for a goalkeeper, but one that would in theory set things up in goal for Juventus for a good amount of time. Suzuki turns 24 years old the week the 2026-27 season gets underway, and already has two seasons of Serie A experience as a starter in goal under his belt. He is much more of a potential long-term solution in goal compared to Martinez or even the 29-year-old Vicario, and is one of the few goalkeepers linked to Juventus this spring-into-summer that surely hasn’t reached his full potential just yet considering his still-young age.
Plus, Zion is just a badass name for a goalkeeper. Plus he has phenomenal facial expressions no matter if he’s about to make a save or hoping for all of his life the ball isn’t about to cross the goal line.
