Aston Villa ‘continue to keep tabs’ on goalkeeper as agent clarifies his status

There’s likely to be significant change in the goalkeeping department at Aston Villa in the forthcoming summer transfer window.

Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez could finally leave the club, leaving behind a void that will need to be dealt with quickly by manager Unai Emery and the football department, completed by Damian Vidagany and Roberto Olabe, Villa’s president of football operations.

Several goalkeepers were linked with a move to Villa Park last summer, not least Manchester United stopper Senne Lammens, and reports in Italy indicate that Cagliari’s Elia Caprile is among Villa’s prospective targets in the summer of 2026.

Villa ‘keep tabs’ on Cagliari goalkeeper

“According to rumours reported by transfer expert Nicolò Schira , both Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur continue to keep tabs on the goalkeeper,” reports local Cagliari website Calcio Casteddu.

“Caprile established himself as one of Serie A’s best goalkeepers this season, even earning a call-up to the Italian national team ahead of the World Cup playoffs, a tangible sign of his growth.”

While Villa will undoubtedly have an eye on the 24-year-old, one of Europe’s outstanding young goalkeepers, Caprile is apparently focused on one summer event more than any potential transfer.

The Verona-born former Leeds United prospect is currently in Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy camp as one of two uncapped goalkeepers along with the impressive Marco Carnesecchi of Atalanta. A World Cup place, first for Italy and then for himself, will be all he has in mind.

“I would focus only on the present because right now Elia must continue to play his part in the league so that Cagliari can achieve its goals,” said Caprile’s agent in a TV interview. “It’s true that the boy is being monitored by higher-level clubs, but being monitored is one thing; discussing and closing the deal is another.”

The future of Emiliano Martínez

Villa’s need for a new first choice will be decided by the outcome of long-standing doubt over the future of Martínez, the club’s undisputed number one for the last half a decade and perhaps their best goalkeeper of the Premier League era.

Martínez has been in excellent form for most matches this season despite a serious blip from set pieces in a succession of winter fixtures. He has arguably stepped up after a slightly less consistent season in 2024-25 but he has done so against the backdrop of a likely summer exit.

It’s evident that the goalkeeper had his bags packed and one foot and both hands out of the door on transfer deadline day at the end of last summer only for Lammens to head to Old Trafford instead.

There’s been water under the bridge since then, but the affair and its overall context make a departure likely, especially when combined with Martínez’s age and Villa’s obvious motive when it comes to selling a player over 30 who can still command a transfer fee.

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