{"id":245260,"date":"2026-05-26T10:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/aston-villa-identify-england-world-cup-star-as-top-target-to-replace-key-player\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:40:13","slug":"aston-villa-identify-england-world-cup-star-as-top-target-to-replace-key-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/aston-villa-identify-england-world-cup-star-as-top-target-to-replace-key-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston Villa identify England World Cup star as top target to replace key player"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Aston Villa<\/a> have identified an England World Cup star as their top target to replace a key player if he leaves this summer, according to reports.<\/p>\n

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What a season it has been.<\/p>\n

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Villa signed off on a campaign for the ages with a 2-1 comeback victory at Man City on the final day, Ollie Watkins scoring twice in the second half after Antoine Semenyo had put the hosts ahead.<\/p>\n

It was also Pep Guardiola’s final match after a decade in charge at the Etihad.<\/p>\n

The league campaign, though, is only part of the story.<\/p>\n

A Europa League triumph over Freiburg in Istanbul \u2014 Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers all scoring in a commanding 3-0 victory \u2014 delivered the club’s first European trophy since 1982.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Aston<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tEmery personally targeting ex-Norwich City star with Aston Villa duo expected to leave
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The Spaniard has him on his summer shortlist.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Champions League football was already wrapped up courtesy of the 4-2 demolition of Liverpool at Villa Park a week earlier, meaning the night was all about their silverware perade.<\/p>\n

Unai Emery<\/a> has taken this club to a place nobody imagined when he arrived three years ago.<\/p>\n

The summer should be about building on all of that. And it will be.<\/p>\n

But there is one significant issue that could be a major talking point: the future of Emiliano Mart\u00ednez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Aston\n <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

As we have reported on before, Liverpool have identified the 33-year-old World Cup winner as a potential long-term replacement for Alisson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Villa have already been scouting alternatives \u2014 Toulouse’s Guillaume Restes and RC Lens’ Robin Risser were both linked<\/a> earlier this month \u2014 but according to the Daily Mail’s Tom Collomosse, the club have a clear number one target if the ‘immense<\/a>‘ Martinez does leave.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Aston Villa eye James Trafford as number one Emiliano Mart\u00ednez replacement<\/strong>
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James Trafford<\/a>, the 23-year-old Man City goalkeeper, is Villa’s primary option.<\/p>\n

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\n \"james-trafford-manchester-city-premier-league\"\n <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The England international has spent this season as backup to Ederson at the Etihad, making just three Premier League appearances since re-signing from Burnley for \u00a327m last July.<\/p>\n

City beat off interest from Newcastle to bring him back to the club where he came through the academy, but first-team opportunities have been limited and Trafford’s development needs regular football.<\/p>\n

He got plenty of that at Burnley.<\/p>\n

In his final season at Turf Moor, Trafford kept 29 clean sheets \u2014 25 in the Championship alone \u2014 as Scott Parker’s former side won promotion back to the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Those performances earned him a first senior England call-up, and this week Thomas Tuchel named him in his 26-man World Cup squad<\/a> alongside Jordan Pickford and Dean Henderson.<\/p>\n

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It will be his first senior international tournament, a reward for a player whose trajectory over the past two years has been steeply upward despite a frustrating lack of minutes at City.<\/p>\n

Trafford’s contract at the Etihad runs until 2030, which gives City a commanding negotiating position.<\/p>\n

The Mail<\/a> report does not specify a fee, though any deal would likely need to offer City a return on the \u00a327m they paid 12 months ago.<\/p>\n

For Villa, the investment would make long-term sense.<\/p>\n

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\n \"james-trafford-man-city-premier-league\"\n <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Trafford is 23, English, has proven he can handle pressure at the highest level, and is desperate to play every week. If Martinez leaves, the gloves need to go to someone capable of filling them for the next decade.<\/p>\n

Trafford fits that description exactly.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Aston<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tAston Villa plotting move for \u00a335m star who Liverpool are now prepared to sell
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\n\t<\/h5>\n

The Villans are keen on signing an “incredible” Liverpool player.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa have identified an England World Cup star as their top target to replace a key player if he leaves this summer, according to reports. What a season it has been. Villa signed off on a campaign for the ages with a 2-1 comeback victory at Man City on the final day, Ollie Watkins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6808],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}