Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez remains in limbo after a proposed move to Manchester United fell through thanks to the Red Devils’ impending signing of Senne Lammens. The goalkeeper position has been one of trouble for Ruben Amorim with Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir failing to deceive as the starting keeper for the Premier League side.
Onana, 29, has been United’s number one since signing for £47million in 2023 but it’s Bayindir who has started the club’s opening three league games this season but was at fault for goals against Arsenal and Burnley. United have since pulled the trigger on a new shot stopper, according to The Athletic, with the Royal Antwerp ace set to head to Old Trafford.
A fee of £18.2m plus £3.4m in add-ons has been agreed with the Belgian side with the 23-year-old travelling to Manchester for a medical ahead of the 7pm deadline today for the summer transfer window. While United were interested in Martinez – who was not included in Villa’s squad for their 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday – a deal for Lammens has reportedly brought any potential deal to a close.
The Argentina international has only played one game this season in what was Villa’s 1-0 defeat to Brentford with Unai Emery preferring summer signing Marco Bizot ahead of the 32-year-old. Amid Martinez’s uncertain future, Villa were also considering Lammens, as well as Porto’s Diogo Costa.
With just hours left until the deadline, there has been discussions surrounding a move for Martinez to Galatasaray, according to Fabrizio Romano. United’s soon to be confirmed signing of Lammens comes in spite of Amorim coming to the defence of his goalkeepers after their 3-2 win over Burnley.
“They are humans,” said Amorim. “At Manchester United, everything is analysed. Everybody talks about the goalkeeper. And you can see, I can change the goalkeeper and these situations keep happening. We are in that moment. I think it is hard to be a Manchester United goalkeeper in this moment. But if you look at the first goal, we can defend it better.
“We suffered a quite similar goal against Fulham, because we don’t do the full rotation of the team when the ball is on the other side. All these small things have nothing to do with the goalkeeper.”
