Chelsea join Man Utd in £45m Emiliano Martinez race as star's preference emerges

Daily Mirror

5 hours ago

Manchester United have been linked to a summer move for Emiliano Martinez and the belief in South America is that he would prefer a switch to Old Trafford ahead of joining Chelsea
Chelsea have been offered the chance to strike a £45million deal for Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez. Villa are resigned to being forced to cash in on the World Cup-winning Argentine in a bid to ease fears over failing the Premier League 's PSR test and are aware that the Blues are in the market for a new No 1.
Manchester United have been linked to a summer move for the 32-year-old former Arsenal shot-stopper and the belief in South America is that he would prefer a switch to Old Trafford.
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But United boss Ruben Amorim has other priorities to address this summer and will be unable to buy a new No 1 unless the Reds find a club willing to pay £35million for Andre Onana.
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And that has opened the door for Chelsea to step up their bid after Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen both failed to impress under boss Enzo Maresca.
Martinez has a huge admirer at Stamford Bridge in the shape of assistant manager Willy Caballero. He has been exceptional during his six years at Villa Park and was hailed as the world 's best goalkeeper after excelling for Argentina as they prevailed in Qatar in 2022.
Villa admire Royal Antwerp's highly-rated Senne Lammens, but there are a number of other clubs tracking the 22-year-old - including United.
Villa need to sell to balance the books and are reluctant to lose rising England star Morgan Rogers. It is set to be a summer of big-money goalkeeper transfers.
Newcastle are closing in on Burnley 's James Trafford despite seeing the Clarets put a £40million valuation on the England Under-21 international's head.
Toon saw an £17 million bid for Trafford rejected a year ago - and their refusal to come up with the additional £5 million it would have taken to make the deal happen is now going to cost them.
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The Toon were hoping to pay closer to £30 million this summer, but the newly-promoted Clarets will have to pay Manchester City 20 percent of any profit they make on Trafford as part of the £15 million deal that took him to Turf Moor two years ago.
Leeds are monitoring Newcastle's interest in Trafford because they have set their sights on taking England international Nick Pope from the Tyneside club to boost their own chances of surviving in the Premier League.
Pope has now posted a message on Trafford's Instagram story saying 'see you soon'. Burnley have signed 21-year-old Max Weiss from German club Karlsruher, but manager Scott Parker will want a more experienced keeper if he loses Trafford to ambitious Newcastle.