THREE real reasons Emiliano Martinez deal was aborted revealed despite major Senne Lammens concern

Why Man Utd went for Senne Lammens over World Cup winner and Premier League-proven Emiliano Martinez has been revealed, and the three reasons do make sense.

It’s fair to say the goalkeeping department has been a sore spot for Man Utd in the early going this season. Neither Andre Onana or Altay Bayindir have looked even remotely competent, with Bayindir at fault for Arsenal’s winner in the opening weekend.

Onana, meanwhile, produced a disasterclass of a display when Man Utd were dumped out of the League Cup by fourth tier Grimsby Town.

The latest from The Athletic has shed light on why Ruben Amorim has soured on the stopper, with Onana doing himself no favours whatsoever.

Clearly, a new goalkeeper was required and United’s choice boiled down to two – Senne Lammens and Emiliano Martinez.

The pair are at different ends of their careers with a 10-year age gap between the two. Martinez is as experienced as they come but perhaps on the decline. Lammens is highly regarded but has just one full season of Belgian top flight football under his belt.

Lammens’ lack of experience has been highlighted as a major concern by Rio Ferdinand, Thibaut Courtois and The Athletic.

Nevertheless, it was he who Man Utd chose to sign, leaving Martinez stranded at Villa Park.

Now, an update from The Mirror has shed light on why Man Utd made the decision they did and the reasons do make sense.

The first two reasons relate to cost, with Martinez reportedly demanding wages of around the £200,000-a-week.

Furthermore, Aston Villa quoted Man Utd a £40m asking price if a permanent move was made. Despite going above and beyond their initial projection, Man Utd signed Lammens for roughly half that amount and that includes future add-ons.

The final reason relates to age, with the report stating Man Utd preferred the ‘younger profile’ of Lammens.

United have made a concerted effort to move away from signing ageing stars in the INEOS era.

At the time of their respective arrivals, not a single player Man Utd have signed since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co took charge has been over the age of 26.

It’s since emerged Man Utd considered a move to re-sign 34-year-old Danny Welbeck at the beginning of the summer window, but the club thought better of it.

What now for Emiliano Martinez?

Martinez has remained an Aston Villa player, though if the blunt comments of Unai Emery over the weekend were anything to go by, the Argentine won’t be for much longer.

Martinez pushed to leave Villa and join Man Utd. Accordingly, he was left out of Villa’s squad to face Crystal Palace on Sunday, with Marco Bizot getting the start.

When asked for an update on Martinez’ situation, Emery responded to multiple questions with the same two-word response.

🗣️ Unai Emery asked about Emi Martinez and simply repeats Marco Bizot’s name.👀 pic.twitter.com/op6xQI1X69 — Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) August 31, 2025

A handful of transfer windows remain open, such as those in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Galatasaray approached Martinez on deadline day in the English window (Monday), but Martinez rejected the opportunity to join the Turkish champions.

And according to Fabrizio Romano, there is a way back for Martinez at Villa, with the club and Emery now prepared to look past their stopper’s attempts to leave.

Taking to YouTube, Romano stated: “Martinez is not going to Turkey. Galatasaray thought about this possibility on deadline day but the player is not keen on that kind of move.”

After insisting Martinez wants to stay in the Premier League in a World Cup year, Romano added: “Aston Villa hope to continue with Martinez.

“Aston Villa are more than happy with him, even if there was this possibility with Man Utd. Martinez is considered the starting goalkeeper at Aston Villa. This is why they didn’t buy another goalkeeper.”

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