Aston Villa are keeping a close eye on James Trafford as they contemplate listening to offers for Emi Martinez this summer.
Trafford joined Manchester City last summer but when Gianluigi Donnarumma arrived not long afterwards, Trafford was relegated to understudy.
The 23-year-old made his England debut during the recent international break but that was only his 15th senior appearance of the campaign. Trafford has only played 270 minutes in the Premier League this season.
Martinez made little secret of his wish to leave Villa last summer and attracted interest from Atletico Madrid and Manchester United.
Yet no firm offer arrived and Martinez and Villa reached a truce. It seems perfectly possible, though, that this will be his last season with the club.
Villa signed Martinez for about £16million in 2020, meaning whatever fee they receive would help ease their difficulty meeting Premier League and UEFA spending rules.
Martinez is also Villa’s highest earner along with Youri Tielemans and selling the 33-year-old would also go some way to lightening the wage bill.
Villa will decide this week whether to include Martinez in their starting XI for the Europa League second leg against Bologna this week.
The Argentine pulled out of the 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest last Sunday with a calf problem – the third time this season he has withdrawn in the warm-up.
Trafford would add to Villa’s quota of home-grown players and would have the potential to be their No1 for a number of seasons.
