Unai Emery’s Aston Villa were ready to fork out €50 million to sign FC Porto shot-stopper Diogo Costa on deadline day.

According to Record via SportWitness, Aston Villa were keen on signing Diogo Costa on deadline day, amidst uncertainty around the future of Emiliano Martinez. Unai Emery’s team were ready to table an offer worth €50 million for the Portuguese international if the Argentine international ended up joining Manchester United.

Costa has come up the ranks at FC Porto and has been a part of their first team since 2019. He has gone from strength to strength over the years and has established himself as one of their mainstays. The 25-year-old has also cemented his spot in the Portuguese national team.

He is widely regarded as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world and is often linked with a move away. While he still has two years left on his deal at Porto, Costa could have secured a deadline-day move to Aston Villa.

The Birmingham-based outfit were on the lookout for a new shot-stopper, amidst uncertainty around Martinez’s future. The Argentine World Cup winner was left out of their squad for the game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, which was an indication that he could be on his way out.

Villa were keen on signing Costa

Manchester United were keen on signing him, and they had the green light from the player. However, in the end, they decided to sign Senne Lammens instead. But had they gone ahead with the Martinez deal, Villa could have signed Costa to replace him.

Unai Emery’s team are believed to be massive admirers of the 25-year-old, who is protected by a €75 million release clause. They were ready to put forward an offer worth €50 million to sign the Porto graduate.

While that kind of fee would have made things interesting, the report suggests Costa turned down the opportunity to join Villa in the first place. Even if he was willing to make the move, it would have only gone through if Martinez had secured his deadline-day move to Old Trafford.