Socceroo Joe Gauci is ready for the daunting challenge of unseating the ‘number one goalkeeper in the world’ at English Premier League club Aston Villa.

Former Adelaide United gloveman Gauci earlier this month signed a four-and-a-half year deal – initially worth almost $2.5million in transfer fees – with Villa, whose first-choice shot-stopper is World Cup winner, Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez.

‘The Premier League is the pinnacle of world football and that excites me – the opportunity to work with world-class players and the number one goalkeeper in the world,’ 23-year-old Gauci said on arrival at Villa.

‘There are a lot of positives and at my age it’s the right time for me to make this jump.

Socceroo Joe Gauci is ready for the daunting challenge of unseating the ‘number one goalkeeper in the world’ at English Premier League club Aston Villa 

Emiliano Martinez won the World Cup with Argentina and was a standout at the tournament in Qatar back in 2022

‘I’m ready for the challenge. I’m going to give myself every opportunity to succeed.’

Gauci, the Socceroos second-choice goalkeeper behind skipper Mat Ryan, was impressed by the scouting work Villa had done before offering him a contract.

‘The level of detail that they went into about my game, I could really tell how much they’d analysed me as a goalkeeper and as a person as well,’ he said.

‘The areas they went into about how I can improve as a goalkeeper were really detailed. 

‘I feel like I can come here and take my game to a different level.

‘I’m still learning and developing, and accepting that I’m making mistakes and trying to improve on them.

‘There’s no excuse here as a professional to not reach your highest level.’