Gabby Agbonlahor says there is ‘no chance’ Tottenham transfer target and Argentina’s World Cup-winning star Emiliano Martinez will leave Aston Villa, as he told talkSPORT on Thursday morning (29/12/22).
The former Villa striker pointed towards Martinez recently signing a new contract up until 2027 and how the club’s ‘very rich’ owners just simply won’t let him leave in their quest to reach Europe.
Some may point towards the Midlands outfit selling star man Jack Grealish, but that was to the best team in the land for a fee of £100 million after Manchester City met his release clause.
Back in the summer, with less than 12 months remaining on his contract, there was talk of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal wanting to sign Douglas Luiz.
But despite several deadline-day bids for the Brazil midfielder, he stayed put and ended up signing a new contract, instead.
Now, given that Martinez’s stock is through the roof, there has been transfer speculation about the over-confident goalkeeper, but Agbonlahor made it clear that he just won’t leave.
“What I like about Aston Villa is that he is signed until 2027, Martinez,” said Agbonlahor. “So, it’s perfect for Villa. He might come back and get ahead of himself and be like ‘I want to go to Bayern Munich’.
“Aston Villa will be like ‘nah, if you want to play European football, then you get us there and you will play European football with Aston Villa, otherwise, you won’t play European football’.
“Aston Villa won’t sell any of their best players with these owners. Grealish was a one-off because of the release clause. If he didn’t have a release clause, they probably would have rejected the £100 million. They have very rich owners, who don’t need the money, so Martinez and any player that is doing well for Aston Villa is no chance of leaving.”
TOTTENHAM HAVE NO CHANCE OF SIGNING MARTINEZ
One of the clubs that is looking for a long-term goalkeeper is Antonio Conte’s Tottenham, with the long-serving and 2022 World Cup finalist, Hugo Lloris, in between their sticks.
As a result, a number of names have been floating around that Spurs could bring in to replace Lloris, including Aston Villa’s vice-captain.
But there is no chance that happens because Tottenham’s own future is uncertain, with Conte yet to extend his stay in north London, plus Villa will want to get into Europe themselves and overtake teams like Spurs.
Added to that, just like with Grealish, if that button has to be pushed, then Villa will want an over-inflated price for their number one keeper and that’s just not Daniel Levy’s game.
And if Martinez does leave, then it’s to a team that’s already winning trophies and has a serious chance of continuing to do so.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
