With the January transfer window set to open in a matter of days, journalist Luke Hatfield has dropped a claim that could leave a lot of Aston Villa fans worried about the future of one of their star players.

What's the news?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Hatfield had this to say about the possibility of Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez attracting interest from other clubs and potentially leaving the Midlands club.

He said: "Martinez was one which was always kind of a little bit of a worry because of the performances he’s putting in have made him one of the top goalkeepers in world football at the moment.

"But his reaction to the Crystal Palace game when he went over to the fans and [kissed] the badge. I mean, it shows that players are enjoying playing for Villa at the moment and enjoying their time under Gerrard, so fingers crossed they can keep the group together."

Fans scared

Since joining the Villans back in September last year from fellow Premier League club Arsenal in a deal worth a reported fee of £17m, the Argentine has firmly cemented himself as their number one goalkeeper with 55 appearances and 20 clean sheets under his belt across all competitions.

In addition to this, at the end of his debut season at the club, the shot-stopper managed to win the Supporters' Player of the Season award, showing how much he is admired by the fans at Villa Park.

As a result, they will surely be scared that his future is potentially in doubt heading into the January transfer window.

This season has seen Martinez earn himself an overall performance rating of 6.94/10, making him Villa's fourth-highest rated player according to SofaScore, which also shows how good he is on the pitch and why Hatfield thinks he could be attracting interest from other clubs.

Moving forward, even though his current contract at Villa isn't set to expire until the summer of 2024, it could be worth the club offering the stopper a new deal to keep him out of the clutches of any club that may want to sign the 29-year-old in the future.

With the Daily Star claiming that fellow Premier League club Manchester United reportedly have Martinez on their transfer shortlist, this could spring Johan Lange into action to get the Argentine to sign a new deal.

In other news: Forget Mings: £82k-p/w AVFC dud who lost the ball 17x was Gerrard’s weak link vs Blues - opinion