Man Utd ‘close’ to sealing ‘bargain’ next signing as Prem star has ‘everything ready’ to join
Premier League giants Man Utd are closing in on the signing of Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, according to reports.
The Red Devils’ summer transfer business is well underway with INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe providing Ruben Amorim with the funds to improve his squad, although they are struggling to offload some of their excess players.
Matheus Cunha has arrived from Wolves in a £62.5m deal, while Paraguayan youngster Diego Leon has also joined from Cerro Porteno.
Man Utd have been pushing hard to sign Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo with the Red Devils making their third improved offer for the Cameroon international on Thursday.
As well as the attack, there have been rumours linking Man Utd with new goalkeepers, including Aston Villa stopper Martinez.
That is because of the poor form of Andre Onana last season with some fans hoping that he will be sold in the summer and replaced by a different goalkeeper.
READ: Mediawatch: Brentford ‘U-turn’ on Mbeumo as three Man United transfers solve everything
And now a report in Clarin (via Sport Witness) – which is the biggest newspaper in Argentina – claim that Martinez is ‘close to joining’ Man Utd this summer.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper has ‘everything ready’ to complete a transfer as Man Utd ‘have made the most progress in transfer talks’ with his €25m release clause meaning the Argentine is ‘a bargain that cannot be passed up’ by the Red Devils.
Clarin insist that a transfer to Man Utd will be a ‘qualitative leap’ for Martinez as he would be joining ‘one of the most important clubs in the world’.
Former Man Utd defender Wes Brown has already warned supporters that it isn’t as easy as “just selling” Onana if the Red Devils look to move him on this summer.
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Brown said recently: “Yeah, I think you have to. Listen, he’s made some mistakes this season and you don’t want that from a goalkeeper. But at the same time, I feel sometimes the pressure has been immense. Maybe he’s not handled it the best way, but at the same time, he still comes back, the manager still puts him in.
“Plus, I don’t think he can just sell somebody like that anyway. These players cost a lot of money. Fans need to understand, it’s not like a video game where you press one button and the player is sold.
“There’s a lot of factors. And I get these questions. I mean, we all do. I have talks with my mates all the time and they’ll say ‘yeah, you should do this’. But it doesn’t work like that. I get what they’re saying, but it actually doesn’t work like that.
“So, yeah, he will be there next season and you can just hope he steps up and that’s all you can do. Because if he does, then all this talk goes out the window. It’s as simple as that. But you do have to give the lads some support, if they have had some bad games, you need to let them see that they’re still good enough, even after a bad game. Otherwise, it only gets worse.
“But you definitely also have to trust going forward that he’s going to give more, he’s going to get better and be more consistent, because he’s a great shot stopper at times. He’s let in some silly goals. I think everyone admits that, but I think you need to give him the chance.
“Next season as we go forward, obviously there’ll be new players there as well, and then it’s up to him. At times it’s been rough, but it’s the case for every player this season. At times, they’ve not been good enough. You can see it all over the pitch sometimes, and the standard needs to raise a little bit.”
