Aston Villa complete €35m Zion Suzuki deal - despite Emiliano Martínez exit stalling

Aston Villa have completed the signing of goalkeeper Zion Suzuki from Parma for an initial €30 million, with a further €5m in add-ons. Veteran keeper Emiliano Martínez was set to leave the club for Juventus, but that deal has since fallen through, although the Argentine could still leave the club this summer. The Premier League side have been searching for a long-term replacement for Martínez for some time and swooped in to strike a deal for Suzuki, who saw a proposed move to PSG collapse earlier this week. The Japan international has signed a five-year contract that runs until June 2031.

In moving to Villa Park, Suzuki will become the eighth-most expensive goalkeeper of all time, with Kepa Arrizabalaga, Alisson Becker, Andre Onana and James Trafford the other Premier League representatives ahead of him. He is also now the second most expensive Japanese player ever behind Shoya Nakajima. This Wednesday, Aston Villa have also confirmed the signing of Italian defender Matteo Ruggeri for €18m from Atlético Madrid.

A deal two years in the making

According to The Athletic, the deal has been a long time coming. Villa's recruitment analysts and scouting team had been tracking Suzuki over the past two seasons when he broke out with Sint-Truiden in the Belgian Pro League, having started his career with Urawa Red Diamonds in the J-League.

While Suzuki was on course to join PSG, competition with Lucas Chevalier and Matvei Safonov would've been rife - and the French champions pulled out of the deal apparently due to excessive agent fees. The chance to be Villa's number one shot-stopper appeared to be too good to turn down, particularly with interest in Martínez.