‘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.

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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.

Despite that, it’s claimed they could be talked into a possible sale and would be willing to entertain offers in the £40m (€46m, $54m) mark – a figure which may yet price United out of the running unless they can first agree to sell Onana.

All the same, Romano suggests a possible swap deal could be offered to Villa to try and twist their arm.

Romano explained: “The new striker is something really important for Manchester United, they want to bring in an important striker. Then, for the goalkeeper, Man Utd want to understand financially what can happen: if they have to bring in, if they want, a young goalkeeper. Maybe staying with the current goalkeepers is also an option.

“But they are assessing the opportunity to go young goalkeeper or experienced one like Emi Martinez.

“I can tell you that for Dibu Martinez, the idea at Manchester United was to discuss maybe a swap deal with Aston Villa, so not spending any fresh money on the deal, to save the money for the striker, but maybe discuss a potential swap deal.

“At the moment, what I’m hearing is that club-to-club talks have not started yet. Man Utd have still not approached Aston Villa. But internally, the consideration is maybe to offer players as part of the conversation for Dibu Martinez.

“Then there is the decision of Aston Villa, the valuation of the players, it’s not an easy topic. It’s not something done or close or advanced at this stage. At the moment, it’s only an internal conversation.

“Why internal conversation? Because Man Utd know that Dibu Martinez would be very keen on a move to Old Trafford.

“So it depends on Man Utd, what they want to do and also financially what they can do, because outgoings are really, really important and crucial now for Man Utd after they spent important money for Matheus Cunha and for Bryan Mbeumo.”

Liverpool target crucial Villa star; United in for Sporting CP star

Martinez might not be the only big-name star Villa are in danger of losing after a new report claimed Arne Slot and Liverpool are ready to divot towards an ‘unbelievable’ Holt End favourite this summer after getting cold feet over another top target.

Emery’s side also face a battle to keep Morgan Rogers and a report suggests Chelsea have ‘devised a plan’ to sign the playmaker, with several players, including Trevoh Chalobah, reportedly set to be offered to Aston Villa as a makeweight.

Over at United, reports claim a stunning double Italian exit is on for two of the players Amorim has cleared to leave this summer.

Elsewhere, and on the subject of a new defensive midfielder, TEAMtalk’s transfer correspondent, Rudy Galetti, has reported that Amorim has approved the signing of a top Sporting CP star.

How Martinez compared to Onana last season