{"id":701484,"date":"2026-07-20T11:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/701484\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T11:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:48:09","slug":"aston-villa-in-intense-battle-for-german-goalkeeper-as-martinez-tipped-to-move-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/701484\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston Villa in ‘intense’ battle for German goalkeeper as Martinez tipped to ‘move on’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa<\/a> are said to be engaged in an \u2018intense\u2019 battle with a few other clubs for German goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, while a former Villan feels Emi Martinez could move on.<\/p>\n

Villa<\/a> have enjoyed the talents of Martinez for six seasons. During that time, he\u2019s been one of the world\u2019s best goalkeepers, and showed that in Sunday\u2019s World Cup final, making 11 saves \u2013 a record for a match of its kind.<\/p>\n

All summer there have been suggestions that he could move on from Villa \u2013 Juventus have pushed and their fans are clamouring for his signing after his display in Argentina\u2019s final heartbreak.<\/p>\n

Amid reports linking Martinez with other clubs, Villa are on the hunt for a new keeper.<\/p>\n

Fussballdaten<\/a> reports there is an \u2018intense battle\u2019 in which they are engaged for Freiburg\u2019s Atubolu, alongside Bournemouth, Inter Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old German kept 10 clean sheets in all competitions last season, including five in the Europa League as Freiburg made it to the final, where they were beaten by Villa.<\/p>\n

The Midlands club are said to be preparing an \u2018attractive offer\u2019 for Atubolu, for whom Freiburg want to make \u20ac25-30million (\u00a321.2-25.5m).<\/p>\n

The club are said to feel the German could perfectly integrate into the system, but it\u2019s suggested Atubolu could be a backup option.<\/p>\n

Martinez could leave<\/p>\n

But there is still a sense that Martinez could leave, with former Villan Henri Lansbury stating as much of late.<\/p>\n

He told Villa News<\/a>: \u201cHe\u2019s a world-class player and that\u2019s what happens to the best players, they\u2019re touted around.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done fantastic for Villa and Argentina, so he\u2019s always going to have clubs after him. That will make his taste buds flare, I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll have a sniff at it.<\/p>\n

READ: Transfer rumour ranking: Arsenal eye England defender, Man Utd to move on France star<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all a waiting game now. If Villa find a replacement they think fits they could still let him move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most heavily-linked side are Juventus at the moment, and after Martinez lost the World Cup final, it\u2019s not known if he\u2019ll look to stay with Villa or move on.<\/p>\n

If Atubolu is indeed being looked at as a backup, then Villa surely won\u2019t push their star out the door, but having started every game for the Europa League finalists last season, the German is surely a better player than to be sat second in the pecking order.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Romano reveals how \u2018surprised\u2019 Arsenal were beaten to Rogers by Chelsea; Diomande latest<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aston Villa are said to be engaged in an \u2018intense\u2019 battle with a few other clubs for German…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2604,10111,218,448,50,221,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-701484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-aston-villa","tag-emi-martinez","tag-football","tag-front-page","tag-news","tag-premier-league","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}