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ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MAY 20: Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa kisses his winners medal following the team's victory in the UEFA Europa League Final 2026 match between SC Freiburg and Aston Villa FC at Besiktas Park on May 20, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Angel Martinez - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images) | UEFA via Getty Images
No matter which name gets thrown out there as the backup option in goal for Juventus next season, the primary choice is very much the same these days: Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez. That was true at the beginning of the week, and it still seems to be the case even with Thursday’s news that Juventus CEO Damien Comolli is on the way out.
Even with Comolli on the way out and Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali the man who is set to take over that position in the front office, Juventus’ stance on the 33-year-old Martinez has not changed a bit, according to Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio on Thursday night. Martinez, who reportedly agreed to personal terms with Juventus earlier in the week, “is very committed and wants only Juventus,” Di Marzio writes, and that means the chat he’s had with manager Luciano Spalletti has outweighed the sudden change in management that broke as we were all preparing for the opening day of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Di Marzio adds that Carnevali “made an indirect move to keep the situation hot” and will address things on the Martinez front at the beginning of next week.
There’s also this: Martinez is reportedly looking for a home in Turin, according to Di Marzio.
So who do you think he’s talked to about where to live in Turin? Maybe talked with a couple of guys he won the World Cup with in 2022 in Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes? Or maybe he’s called up another one of his teammates from that World Cup-winning team, Paulo Dybala, in recent days?
Who knows. But if we’re getting the “He’s looking for a house in Turin!” portion of the reporting, then you may as well start to seriously hope that he doesn’t waste much time on the real estate front if a move doesn’t work out.
But the big thing now is that Juventus and Aston Villa try and come to an agreement on a transfer fee for Martinez. And instead of Comolli potentially leading talks, it will now likely be Carnevali and sporting director Marco Ottolini in talks with the newly-crowned Europa League champions. By all accounts, Juventus have no interest in breaking the bank for Martinez, who has multiple years left on his current contract but has looked like he could potentially leave Villa Park the last two summers.
With Carnevali very much wanting to bring in a goalkeeper that Spalletti clearly wants, you have to believe that the new CEO will want to deliver a big move right off the get-go and set a nice tone for the following weeks this summer. Hopefully, right?
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