The final day of the Premier League season saw controversy and agony for Aston Villa. Unai Emery’s side were on the cusp of qualifying for the Champions League, but ended up falling down to sixth in the table and only reaching the Europa League after a 2-0 loss away to Manchester United.
The controversial moment came with the scoreline at 0-0. Morgan Rogers, a key player for the Villans, stole the ball from Altay Bayindir’s grasp and converted home. However, the referee blew the whistle before the England international scored, meaning VAR could not intervene.
With Villa missing out on Champions League football, you may think that will stop them competing for the big signings this summer with those who did qualify. However, before the window has even opened, that does not seem to be the case.
The latest Villa transfer news
It seems like the Villans will need to bring in a new goalkeeper this summer. Recent reports suggest that Emiliano Martinez will leave the club, with former side Arsenal lining up a move if David Raya leaves North London.
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If that is the case, reports in one Spanish newspaper, via Sport Witness, suggest the Villans have placed a bid for his replacement.
That man is Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia, who is also wanted by La Liga giants Barcelona, as well as the Gunners and south coast outfit Bournemouth.
There is also interest from Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli, who have just won their fourth Scudetto. If Villa really have made a bid, it would need to be in the region of £21m, which is thought to be his release clause.
Why Garcia would be a good signing
There is perhaps no goalkeeper who is more highly rated in Europe this season than Garcia. The 24-year-old, who was born in Sallent de Llobregat, a small town outside of Barcelona, was named in WhoScored’s La Liga team of the season.
Indeed, that was the sort of impression he left on the rest of European football this term, hence the interest from Villa and co. Garcia kept eight clean sheets in 38 La Liga appearances for Espanyol this season.
According to FBref, there were just six goalkeepers in La Liga who kept more clean sheets than Garcia in 2024/25. Impressively, he made the most saves with 140, and had the fifth highest save rate of 75.5%.
Goals conceded per game
1.34
14th
Saves
140
1st
Saves per game
3.68
4th
Save percentage
75.5%
5th
Clean sheets
8
=6th
A colossus between the sticks, the 24-year-old was described as a “big game player” by football analyst Ben Mattinson. Garcia certainly stood up for the count against Real Madrid in 2024/25.
At the start of September, he made ten saves in a single game, which he repeated against Real Betis days later. In the return fixture in February, he kept a clean sheet to help his side win 1-0.
If Villa do bring Garcia to the club this summer, they will be hoping he can be as good as Pau Torres has been in that famous Claret and Blue shirt. The Spaniard made the move to Villa Park back in 2023 for £31.5m from LaLiga side Villarreal.
During his two-year stay at Villa Park so far, the defender has made 73 appearances, even managing to chip in with two goals and three assists, although both of those strikes came last season.
Once described as a “fantastic player” by former Man United midfielder Owen Hargreaves, Torres has been excellent for Villa. That is in spite of some injuries which he has been able to bounce back from.
If Villa do bring Garcia to the club this summer, they will surely be hoping he can have as much of an impact in the West Midlands as Torres has so far, following his own switch from Spain.
He certainly brings great pedigree, and will surely be hoping to have a big part to play as they look to win the Europa League next season.
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