Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez has emerged as a target for Atletico Madrid should they lose Jan Oblak.
Slovenia international Oblak is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to signal that he intends to sign a new deal with the La Liga giants. As a result, Diego Simeone’s club are assessing alternative options and Martinez is well placed amongst them.
Atletico will even consider selling Oblak in January rather than risk losing him on a free six months later and Manchester United are among a number of clubs understood to be monitoring his situation.
If he goes, then Martinez is seen as a player who could fill any void left by Oblak by compatriot Simeone, although Villa won’t want to lose the Argentina international.
The chance to play Champions League football would make a move to Madrid appealing for the keeper, however, and could put Villa in a tricky position.
Martinez has established himself as one of the Premier League's top shot-stoppers since joining Villa in a £20million deal from Arsenal back in September 2020 and is also now Argentina's No.1 goalkeeper.
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The 30-year-old has been an ever-present so far this term for Steven Gerrard's side, who have made a horrific start to the new top-flight campaign. But Martinez insisted earlier this month that the Midlands outfit can still have a successful season - even though recent results have given him sleepless nights.
He previously told Sky Sports : "I love this club, I've said it from day one I love this club. I love being here, I didn't want to go anywhere and I owe the fans for always having my back so I want to repay them. When I see kids with my shirt in the ground and they chant my name it makes me want to stay and I fell in love with this club, and that's why I can't sleep.
"Obviously if you don't care I would just sleep straight after the game but I really care about this club and I want to take this club to Europe - obviously it's a bad start but I think I can still do it.
"Everyone will be low. It's normal, it's part of football, you should be angry, you should be disappointed for not getting anything from the games, but that's what I like about my team. They all care about this club. It's not like they don't care, no one will be laughing, no one will be smiling. They will go out and train, and that's something I love about these players - it only takes one big win, one big performance to turn things around."
