Man Utd make last-ditch transfer move for £40m Premier League star

Manchester United have made a late approach for Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United have made a stunning move for Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez at the 11th hour, with the club determined to sign a goalkeeper before the transfer deadline.

The goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford has once again come under the spotlight after a concerning start to the Premier League season for Altay Bayindir.

Bayindir has taken over the reins from Andre Onana as Ruben Amorim’s number one for United’s three opening games, but has already been guilty of several mistakes and lapses in concentration.

It was the Turk’s howler that gifted Burnley their second, through Jaidon Anthony, before Bruno Fernandes scored an injury-time winner to secure United’s first victory of the campaign on Saturday .

And with Onana seemingly out of chances, it leaves the Red Devils with only one option: find a replacement before the transfer window slams shut.

Fabrizio Romano reports that United are still working hard to sign a new ‘keeper and there have always been two players on the club’s shortlist since the start of the summer, Royal Antwerp’s Senne Lammens and Villa’s Martinez.

While United have agreed personal terms with Lammens’ camp, negotiations are ongoing between the two clubs regarding a possible fee for the 23-year-old shot-stopper.

The Red Devils remain in talks for Royal Antwerp shot-stopper Lammens (Picture: Getty)

Bayindir has looked out of his depth in United’s three opening games (Picture: Getty)

Romano claims that, as of Saturday night, Antwerp’s hierarchy are not accepting the offer on the table from United because they believe other teams could enter the race for the Belgian.

The feeling internally at Antwerp is that a bidding war could break out for Lammens, which explains their hesitation in shaking hands with United at this stage.

With less than 48 hours remaining of the window, United have therefore turned their attentions back to Martinez, who they first made a move for back in July.

Amorim has repeatedly jumped to Bayindir’s defence (Picture: Getty)

According to Romano, United ‘want to be ready’ in the event that their deal for Lammens collapses which has forced club bosses to approach Martinez and his camp once again.

Villa are demanding a fee in the region of £40million for Martinez and the 32-year-old Argentina international is thought to be open to the prospect of a move to the Theatre of Dreams.

Martinez has four years remaining on his current contract at Villa Park.

Martinez was in tears after Villa’s final home match of last season (Picture: Getty)

It was widely assumed that Martinez had played his last match for Villa after he was pictured in tears in the wake of the side’s win over Tottenham towards the end of last term.

But after missing Villa’s opening match this season through suspension, Martinez returned to Unai Emery’s starting XI for the team’s 1-0 defeat at Brentford last weekend.

The 2022 World Cup winner will be expected to continue his run in the side this evening when Villa return to action at home to Crystal Palace.

Emery is desperate to keep hold of Martinez (Picture: Getty)

‘My future? I don’t know,’ Martinez told reporters when asked for an update on his plans while away on international duty in June.

‘I’m here to play for the Argentina national team and that’s all I care about right now.

‘Do I want to change clubs? The transfer market has just opened, so there’s still a lot to do.’

Amorim has been reluctant to criticise Bayindir this season, simply saying it was ‘hard to be a Manchester United goalkeeper’ following the Turkey international’s latest blunder against Burnley.

‘They are humans. At Manchester United, everything is analysed. Everybody talks about the goalkeeper,’ Amorim said.

‘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.’