‘Incredulous’ Aston Villa ‘insantly rebuff’ Man Utd after very cheeky Emi Martinez offer
Manchester United have suffered ‘instant rejection’ after a fuming Aston Villa were left staggered by the Red Devils’ below-the-belt offer for Emi Martinez – though Fabrizio Romano has explained the strategy planned by Ruben Amorim’s side to get a deal done.
The Red Devils are finally ready to look into strengthening other areas of their side after the long-awaited signing of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford on Monday evening for a fee that will ultimately hit £71m (€82m, $95.6m). And while the fee was some distance more than Manchester United were hoping to pay, having seen two previous offers turned down, they were always in a position, regardless, whereby further new additions would be dependent on sales first.
Thankfully, with those much-needed exits generally all moving in the right direction, United can now think about strengthening elsewhere, with David Ornstein this week naming their three next most urgent priorities: a new goalkeeper, a deep-lying midfielder and a new No.9.
Indeed, a strong report in Spain on Tuesday claimed United had already mobilised on two of those, with an impressive £91m double deal intent on ‘shaking up the market’.
With a new goalkeeper also on their radar, it’s been claimed United are focusing on two main options to come in as an upgrade for Andre Onana: Villa stopper Martinez and Royal Antwerp’s impressive young Belgian, Senne Lammens.
The more established of the two and regarded as the best in the world by Lionel Messi, it is easy to see why United would be so keen on landing Martinez, especially given our revelation back in May that claimed Amorim had set his sights on landing the 32-year-old this summer.
Now, according to the Daily Mail, United have made their first move for Martinez. But rather than offering a sizeable fee for the World Cup winner’s services, they report that the Red Devils had instead asked Aston Villa if they could sign the stopper on loan, with a view to a permanent deal.
Understandably, this was met with disbelief from Unai Emery’s side as they ‘rebuffed it immediately’ with ‘incredulity’. Furthermore, it’s stated they see ‘no sense’ in allowing one of their best players to leave without a fee this summer, especially given their own financial uncertainties.
Emi Martinez price revealed as Romano reveals Man Utd swap plan
Martinez, of course, appeared to offer supporters a tearful farewell at the end of last season when he appeared to wave an emotional farewell to the Holt End after their 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on May 16 in their last home game of the season.
However, with the keeper having signed a new contract to 2029 just a year ago, Villa are not about to perform a U-turn and let one of their most dependable players leave on the cheap.
