Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez could return to north London to join Tottenham, rivals of his former club Arsenal, according to reports.
The Argentina international joined the Gunners as a teenager and spent ten years there before heading to Villa in a £20 million deal in September 2020.
But the Independent reports that Spurs are interested in signing Martinez as a replacement for Hugo Lloris, if the Frenchman departs at the end of the season.
Managing director Fabio Paratici is looking into the possibility of striking a deal that is likely to be costly and difficult to pull off, given Villa’s likely resistance to a sale.
Other options being considered are out of favour Napoli keeper Alex Meret, Real Sociedad’s Alex Remiro and Sam Johnstone of West Brom.
Those are all likely to be easier deals to strike than one for Martinez, but the Copa America-winning keeper remains an attractive prospect for Spurs.
Martinez has impressed since his move to Birmingham last year, equalling Brad Friedel’s club record for clean sheets with 15 in his debut Premier League campaign, and winning the Supporters’ Player of the Season award.
He followed that up by being Argentina’s first-choice keeper in their triumphant Copa America campaign over the summer.
He kept four clean sheets, including one in the final against Brazil, and saved three penalties in a semi-final shoot-out victory over Colombia.
There is, of course, no guarantee that Spurs’ current number one, World Cup winner Lloris, is ready to move on.
The 34-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season but remains the club captain, and he’s played every minute of their league campaign so far this season.
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