Why Emiliano Martinez Didn’t Complete Deadline Day Move to Man Utd

The stopper’s brother addressed rumours of a feud with Aston Villa’s manager Unai Emery.

Emiliano Martínez had been tipped to make a late switch to Man Utd. / Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images

Emiliano Martínez’s brother Alejandro has claimed that Aston Villa refused to sanction an exit for the Argentine goalkeeper, whose importance to the club was likened to that of Diego Maradona at Napoli and Lionel Messi in Barcelona.

Martínez had been tipped to move on from Villa Park all summer after he appeared to bid a tearful goodbye to fans at the end of last season. There were whispers of interest from Barcelona at the start of the summer but nothing concrete emerged until the final hours of the window when Manchester United came calling.

The Red Devils reportedly explored the prospect of bringing in the World Cup winner after Ruben Amorim emphatically lost faith in both André Onana and Altay Bayındır. United were also advancing towards a deal for Senne Lammens, yet Villa—fearful of losing Martínez—had offered Royal Antwerp a more attractive financial package for the young Belgian.

In the end, United snapped up Lammens and Martínez remained in the Midlands. Amorim’s side reportedly agreed personal terms with the Argentine yet it was Villa’s reluctance to lose their No. 1 which supposedly underpinned his failed move to Old Trafford.

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Emiliano Martínez missed out on joining Man Utd. / Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images

“I was told that Emi gave a lot as a professional and as a person, they love him, and you could see that on the pitch. He is well-liked, and the directors didn’t want to sell him because he is the key player in the team, and another team wanted him. It was that commercial dispute,” Alejandro Martínez told DSports Radio.

There was talk of a disagreement between Villa manager Unai Emery and his starting goalkeeper. The Spanish boss didn’t exactly ease tensions when he answered every question about Martínez by repeating the name of Villa’s alternate goalkeeper Marco Bizot during one steamy pre-match interview. However, Alejandro was quick to dismiss those claims.

“These are decisions made by club officials,” he explained. “It didn’t happen, but it’s like everything else in business. The sporting side of things was left out of it, and everything is fine. Emi never had an argument with Unai; it was all within the management’s control, and the clubs couldn’t agree.

“At Aston Villa, he’s the Diego [Maradona] of Napoli. He gave a lot at Villa, like Kun [Sergio Agüero] did at [Manchester] City, like Leo [Messi] did at Barça. They’re legendary players, and it’s going to be hard to surpass what he did at Aston Villa.”

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