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Calm and understated off the pitch, it's Zion Suzuki’s commanding presence between the sticks that matches the scale of his ambition: to become the best goalkeeper in the world. "Whether it’s in the gym or elsewhere, because of my size, people sometimes call me 'Animale'," Suzuki admitted. "I like it because it gives off a strong, beast-like impression." Linked with several top clubs on the continent and in the Premier League, Aston Villa is where Suzuki will now call home as he takes another big step in his meteoric rise as a highly promising goalkeeper. He doesn’t lack self-belief, either. “For me, my ultimate goal is to become the best goalkeeper in the world. Being number one in the world is something I aim for, both as an individual and with my team - whether that’s in the Champions League or the World Cup.” Having been close to signing for European champions Paris Saint-Germain, Suzuki’s move collapsed after Villa presented their economic and sporting offer to the Japan international. PSG had even prepared a private jet for Suzuki to fly to Paris from Parma to undergo a medical ahead of signing his contract. Villa have been scouting Suzuki for some time, among other goalkeepers, knowing that the day Martinez would leave wasn’t far away. Last summer, Manchester United chose to sign Senne Lammens instead of the Argentina international, before Juventus made their move for him earlier this window. A lowball offer was refused by Villa back then, but now Juventus are back at the table and are expected to agree a fee with the Premier League club for Martinez’s transfer. Martinez is arguably one of the hardest players to replace in Villa’s squad, especially after the departures of Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers and Lucas Digne this summer. Suzuki, who will turn 24 later this month, is the man Villa are now finalising a transfer for and will be expected to replace Martinez. Japan’s No. 1, Suzuki has been playing his football in Serie A with Parma for two seasons, though he missed a chunk of the last campaign with a broken hand. In total, he has made 59 appearances for Parma, keeping 13 clean sheets, following one season - the 2023/24 campaign - at Belgian outfit St. Truiden. Suzuki came through the youth ranks at Urawa Red Diamonds and, at 16 years and five months, signed his first professional deal, becoming one of the youngest players in the Japanese club’s history to do so. The goalkeeper was actually born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother, but grew up in Urawa. Now one of the best ‘keepers in Japan’s history, let alone in the current day, he takes great pride in representing his nation at the highest level. He enjoyed an impressive World Cup campaign with Japan earlier this summer and made a stunning save to deny Vinicius Junior in the round of 32. Leading into the World Cup campaign, Suzuki kept three clean sheets in a row against Scotland, England - at Wembley - and Iceland. Registering 16 clean sheets in 28 caps for his country is a strong record for Suzuki, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing with the national team after he came under criticism for some errors he made as a 21-year-old at the 2023 Asian Cup. “At the beginning, I made a series of mistakes and showed my inexperience as Japan’s first-choice goalkeeper,” Suzuki told FIFA. “Now, I feel I can bring a sense of stability to the team through my mentality. “Of course, big saves are important, but above all, I want to be a goalkeeper who brings stability to the team. Doing the simple things well, consistently. Playing with the determination not to concede. I believe that’s what ultimately inspires those watching.” And that’s exactly what Martinez has done for Villa over the last six years. Albeit with a few antics along the way and some goading of opposition players, however you want to analyse Martinez, he has always done the basics well. Perhaps his likely departure will bring a natural point of transition, and Martinez’s absence will be more obvious when the new man might not pluck every ball out of the sky from set pieces. But that’s actually a part of Suzuki’s game that he has worked on in recent seasons. In the 2024/25 campaign, Suzuki caught 55 crosses for Parma, 21 more than his closest competitor in Serie A - and only Joan Garcia did better across Europe’s top five leagues. Being efficient with the ball at your feet is just as, if not more, important than sprawling across goal to keep the ball out, and Suzuki is aware of that. “Yes, footwork skills are always in demand, and the coach of this team also requires those skills from me,” he said. “I want to create more opportunities during games to showcase these abilities. “As we play more matches, opponents will come up with strategies against us. In those situations, I’d like to use short passes when the opposition sits back. Hopefully, I can adapt flexibly to those situations.”