Emiliano Martinez 'won't be No2' at Aston Villa with transfer now certain
Emiliano Martinez will not stay at Aston Villa to play second fiddle to new arrival Zion Suzuki this season.
That is the opinion of former senior Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The Villans have agree to sign the 23-year-old goalkeeper from Parma for a fee worth up to around £30million.
Martinez had been expected to leave to join Juventus, but the Italian giants have ultimately decided against pursuing the deal any further.
With Suzuki reportedly set to be the new number one, the Argentina international has been left in limbo with just over two weeks remaining of the transfer window.
The 33-year-old hoped to leave this summer but appears to be rapidly running out of options.
'Martinez is the best goalkeeper in the league'
For two consecutive summer transfer windows now, Martinez has been desperate to leave Villa.
Last summer, the Argentine even gave an emotional goodbye to Villa Park before an expected move to Manchester United that never materialised.
This summer, the 33-year-old is once again keen to leave, but may have an even worse fate of sitting on the bench throughout the season in store for him.
"He won't have that. Martinez won't have that, that's for sure. I don't think Suzuki's a better goalkeeper than Martinez when he's on form," King told Football Insider.
"Everybody's saying how wonderful he was in the World Cup there, but he didn't impress me that much. He's a decent goalkeeper, but you're putting him against Martinez.
"I mean, Martinez, if he's in the right frame of mind, he's the best goalkeeper in the league. He's got this South American temperament, hasn't he?
"This Argentinian attitude. I quite honestly see that he could go, he isn't going to play number two to him."
How good is Zion Suzuki?
New Villa man Suzuki made 20 appearances in Serie A last season after missing several months with a broken hand.
The Japan international offered just one per cent less save percentage - 70 per cent to 71 per cent - and offers a slightly better long ball accuracy rate than Martinez (38 per cent to 36 per cent).
The younger goalkeeper made just one error leading to a goal compared to his senior, but there is a huge disparity between the two for goals prevented, with Suzuki's -1.36 dwarfed by Martinez's 3.52.
Perhaps most important to remember is that the Villa man is 10 years older, suggesting that he should likely be guiding his junior rather than sitting behind him.