Whispers become full-on expectation after a scene like that. Emiliano Martinez, tearfully waving as he walks off the Villa Park pitch, how could it mean anything else?
“He’s been a good character, obviously some people like him, he can obviously be annoying sometimes, some of his antics,” Roy Keane (of course) said on Sky Sports after Aston Villa‘s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
“But he’s been a great signing for them. He’d be a big loss to them because it does look like he’s saying his goodbyes.”
Martinez may have suffered a dip in form for Aston Villa this season but it was nothing supporters believed he couldn’t have turned around.
"He'll be a big loss to them" "That does look like he was waving goodbye for sure"
Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp on Emi Martinez waving to the Villa Park crowd with tears in his eyes pic.twitter.com/wNaMId6Cij
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 16, 2025
It was certainly not enough to want him to leave. A little competition would have helped, but now it appears the lure of Saudi Arabia, if reports are to be believed, means Martinez is off in the summer.
Unai Emery said little to the contrary, “we will see”, while Villa’s bid to comply with profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) could make this transfer the difficult but standout choice, one that protects younger assets from having to be sold.
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Nevertheless, these are some mighty gloves to fill. Martinez has made 211 appearances for Villa since joining from Arsenal in 2020, and during that time he has become a World Cup winner with Argentina and won the Best Fifa Men’s Goalkeeper award twice.
That has been a major source of pride for the Villa faithful, who serenade the “world’s no 1” virtually every home match, and as Keane notes about the “antics”, they may irk but they are certainly welcome when he is your own team’s goalkeeper, and Villans will therefore fondly remember his five years here – if this is indeed the end.
His penalty heroics in last year’s Conference League tie against Lille stand out, but more significantly his consistency in goal has been a major reason behind Villa climbing the table.
An easy selection and one less headache – perhaps until recently, with some iffy displays – now it appears Villa must search for at least one goalkeeper in the summer transfer windows.
Reports in Spain claim Emery is keen on Espanyol’s Joan Garcia, who is said to be a target for Barcelona and Real Madrid as well, and that would make it some coup for Villa if those two Spanish giants really are in the mix for the 24-year-old.
Closer to home there is one name that springs to mind in the Premier League, arguably ready-made and chomping at the bit for his chance as a No 1 goalkeeper – Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher.
The Republic of Ireland international has impressed when deputising for Alisson at Liverpool, but unless the Brazilian is off himself this summer – there had been talk of Saudi interest last year – then Kelleher is set to seek pastures new.
That is all the more likely because Liverpool are signing Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili this summer, while Kelleher was open about his desire to leave in search of first-team football back in September.
“I’ve made it clear in the last few years that I want to go and be a number one and play week in, week out,” he said.
Caoimhin Kelleher appears surplus to requirements at Liverpool (Photo: Reuters)“The club’s made that decision to get another goalkeeper and from the outside looking in, it looks like they’ve made a decision to go in a different direction.”
Villa would have competition should they show an interest in Kelleher, who is not short of suitors.
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Chelsea and Newcastle United have been linked, Manchester United is deemed an ideal location, while Bournemouth are said to be confident of beating the Big Six clubs to Kelleher’s signature.
More recently West Ham and Leeds United have made the gossip columns too, while last year Nottingham Forest saw an offer rejected by Liverpool.
That takes us to nearly half of next season’s Premier League teams, meaning Kelleher is undoubtedly going to be a man in demand.
He will though only want to go where he is guaranteed the gloves, and with a space opening up at Villa, and the prospect of European football again next season, he be enticed to make the trop down the M6.
It’s a move that suits all parties, and represents only a minor risk for Villa, who know that whoever the replacement may be, Martinez will take some replacing.
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