Aston Villa have confirmed the signings of goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and left-back Matteo Ruggeri. Japan international Suzuki makes the move to Villa Park from Italian side Parma for a fee in the region of £30m. Italian full-back Ruggeri joins Villa in a deal worth £17m from La Liga side Atletico Madrid.
Suzuki, 23, joins despite Emi Martinez's move to Juventus collapsing over the weekend, with the two clubs unable to agree a fee. Martinez, who helped Villa win the Europa League in May and was victorious in the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, faces an uncertain future after his failed move to Juve. Villa view 23-year-old Suzuki as their long-term number one, potentially for the next decade.
He had been at Parma for two years, making 59 appearances for the Serie A side and helping them finish 13th last season. Ruggeri, 24, who is yet to be capped at senior level for Italy, comes in to replace Lucas Digne - who signed for European champions Paris St-Germain on 9 August. A Europa League winner with Atalanta in 2024, Ruggeri made over 100 appearances for the Serie A side before completing a transfer to Atletico last summer.
Both could make their debuts in Sunday's Premier League opener at Brighton. Suzuki's former coach at Sint-Truiden in Belgium, Dennis Rudel, conjures up an intriguing image of Villa's new goalkeeper. "We played in Anderlecht and after the game we went out to the bus and there was a fight with hooligans," he tells BBC Sport.
"The head coach called for Zion: 'Come here, get out of the bus and clear the situation.' "It was a joke but you have a picture of Asterix and Obelix and everything is flying away. You have never seen a goalkeeper or a player like that." The comparison with Asterix, the cartoon character who gains immense strength after taking a magic potion, is telling, and Rudel believes Villa have signed a unique player. "I saw his power immediately.
To show your strength in the game you have to let the tiger out on the pitch, let the beast out. He is so powerful, I have never seen a goalkeeper like it," said Rudel, who worked with Suzuki when he was on loan at Sint-Truiden in 2023-24. "He has such big hands and is powerful - when he can reach the ball it will be 90-95% a save, maybe other keepers touch the ball but it goes in.
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