Unai Emery handed €40m transfer boost as Emi Martinez accepts Aston Villa ‘challenge’

Emi Martinez has spoken of his desire to remain a big player for Unai Emery and Aston Villa. The World Cup winner has been linked with a move away in the summer given his heroics for Argentina in Qatar.

Martinez, 30, has previously outlined how it would be “easy” to opt to join a club in the Champions League.

In a recent interview, the goalkeeper said: “I want to achieve something that no one achieves or it’s been hard to achieve. People were saying, after the Copa America after the World Cup, Emi is going to go and play in the Champions League and he’s going to leave.

Chelsea and Manchester United have dropped out of the race to sign Aston Villa target Tammy Abraham, according to a report.

Their decisions leave Villa with an open goal to sign former loanee Abraham, and it’s said that the club are “tempting” Roma into a sale. A return to B6 for Abraham would cost Villa €40million (£34.9m), with a summer swoop for a striker towards the top of the priority list.

According to ASRomaLive.it, Villa are now the only ones left in the race, and Roma’s stance on Abraham has changed, meaning they are now open to a sale in the summer transfer window.

Aston Villa ‘dream of’ surprise Chelsea transfer as key stumbling block named

Aston Villa have “shown interest” in signing Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, according to a report in Spain.

The 29-year-old is currently on loan at Serie A side Inter Milan, where he has scored three goals in 15 league appearances this season. He moved there on loan from Chelsea last summer, for a £6.9 million loan fee and reported wage cut.

Lukaku has scored 271 goals in 571 career games, and has ups and downs in terms of form, whether that be in the Premier League otherwise. As well as Chelsea, the striker has played for West Brom, Everton and Manchester United in England.

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Aston Villa flop leaves Unai Emery with decisions to make after becoming ‘indispensable’

Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Sanson is flourishing at Strasbourg after making a January loan move to the French side.

The 28-year-old has played eight matches in Ligue 1 over the past two months, which has led to him picking up praise and accolades from those with an eye on his new team.

French newspaper L’Equipe have named Sanson one of the best signings made by a Ligue 1 team in January, labelling him “indispensable” and “essential” to his new club.