The agent of a top Aston Villa star has revealed he had lined up a transfer for his client to Manchester United last summer in a spectacular deal – only for Erik ten Hag to put the brakes on the move and sign another player instead, and much to the frustration of club chiefs at the time.
A new era is now in full swing at Old Trafford with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe getting his feet firmly under the table and looking to revitalise a club who performed well below expectations all too often last season. An eighth-placed finish in the Premier League – the lowest ever achieved by a Manchester United side – was testament to that, though success in the FA Cup showed what they are capable of when playing to their best.
That victory at Wembley effectively kept Ten Hag in his job at Old Trafford, with the decision painstakingly reached by Ratcliffe after weeks of deliberation.
However, in order to aid the club’s chances of success, Ratcliffe has also assembled a crack team of specialists behind the scenes aimed at aiding Ten Hag’s chances of transforming the club back among the English and European elite.
Part of that has been the introduction of a new transfer team at Old Trafford, with technical director Jason Wilcox, chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth stepping into the shoes of John Murtough and Richard Arnold.
And between them, many of the club’s main transfer decisions will be taken out of the Dutchman’s hands, though Ten Hag was keen to ensure he still has some say in such matters and made that perfectly clear during negotiations over his recently-extended contract.
Ten Hag snubbed chance to sign Emi Martinez, agent claims
Indeed, Ten Hag’s track record on the transfer front leaves more questions than answers so far.
While Rasmus Hojlund and Lisandro Martinez have proved good additions – the latter when fit – deals for Andre Onana, Tyrell Malacia, Antony and Mason Mount all remain under the spotlight.
Another, in Casemiro, started brightly, but badly let his standards slip in his second season as United appeared to lurch from one crisis to another.
Now it’s claimed that Ratcliffe has made clear his wish to move Casemiro on this summer – much to Ten Hag’s frustrations, with the Dutchman hoping to continue working with the Brazilian once again in the upcoming season.
Indeed, only many of Ten Hag’s signings have been plagued by either injuries or poor form and the jury remains out on one of those in Onana.
The Cameroon keeper moved to Old Trafford in a costly £43.9m move from Inter Milan last summer, thrusting into the upper echelons of most costly goalkeepers of all time.
The personal choice of Ten Hag, it has now emerged that United officials at the time had actually instead lined up the signing of Aston Villa star Emi Martinez, only for the Dutchman to veto the deal and make clear his wish to sign Onana instead.
Confirming that news to ESPN, Martinez’s agent Gonzalo Goni said: “Last year he was very close to Manchester United, the coach chose Onana, because he already knew him.
“But everyone at Manchester United later maintained that the ideal goalkeeper to win was Emiliano Martínez.”
The wrong call by Ten Hag?
Having won the World Cup in December 2022, Martinez is now established as one of the world’s best.
At the time, it probably looked a close-run thing with Onana, who had excelled during Inter’s run to the 2023 Champions League final, where they lost to Man City.
However, a look at their form since suggests Ten Hag may have got this one badly wrong.
Last season, the Aston Villa goalkeeper kept 15 clean sheets and conceded 61 goals from 47 games, while Onana had 13 clean sheets and conceded an eye-watering 83 goals from 51 matches for the Red Devils.
Ratcliffe is also thought to be perplexed by Ten Hag’s choice having been made aware of the situation soon upon his purchasing of 27.7% of the Red Devils shares.
United have looked into the possibility of signing a new goalkeeper this summer, but it is now no longer viewed as a priority, with other positions taking presidence.
However, hindsight is a beautiful thing and the decision to sign Onana over Martinez has reportedly not sat well with Ratcliffe.
