Emiliano Martínez is on the verge of swapping Aston Villa for Manchester United, thanks to an unknown release clause in his current contract.
That’s according to Clarín, the biggest newspaper in Argentine, who report that Martínez has ‘everything ready’ to swap Aston Villa for Manchester United this summer.
They report that the Argentine goalkeeper is close to joining Manchester United and completing an exit from Villa Park that has been speculated on for months after his apparent tearful farewell at the end of last season.
Manchester United have made the most progress in transfer talks after they reportedly received approval from Ruben Amorim to sign the goalkeeper.
Contacts with Aston Villa are ongoing so that the final deal would be worth more than the €25m release clause in Martínez’s contract.
There has been some confusion over reports Martínez would leave Aston Villa this summer given they wouldn’t want to sell for anything other than a huge price for the man who is, at least going by the awards, the best goalkeeper in the world.
Furthermore, it seemed strange for Manchester United to pay what would have been a big fee when they already have Andre Onana and need to spend elsewhere.
The existence of a €25m clause changes that completely, turning Martínez into something of a bargain that cannot be passed up. It also explains why there have been other suitors, such as Barcelona, Galatasaray and various Arab clubs.
According to Clarín, Manchester United would be willing to pay more than that, presumably to avoid paying in one instalment as that’s how release clauses are usually paid. They add that the move to Old Trafford would be a ‘qualitative leap’ in Martínez’s career as he’d be joining ‘one of the most important clubs in the world’.
Now, we would stress this is all Clarín’s information. It is they who are stressing that a deal is close and the existence of the release clause, which hasn’t been mentioned up to this point.
If it does exist as they say, though, it would help to explain what has been confusing reporting around Martínez and a potential exit from Aston Villa up to this point.
Such a clause would naturally drive transfer interest and explain why the Argentine media has been so confident about a transfer.
