Emi Martinez desperately tries to push through Man Utd transfer with Ruben Amorim a huge admirer of Aston Villa star
EMILIANO MARTINEZ is desperately trying to push through a dream move to Manchester United.
And Red Devils boss
6
Emi Martinez is trying to push through a transfer to Man Utd, Sun Sport can exclusively reveal
Credit: Getty
6
Ruben Amorim is a big admirer of Martinez as he targets 'captains and leaders'
Credit: Alamy
6
Andre Onana has emerged as a transfer target for Monaco
Credit: Alamy
Amorim wants 'captains and leaders' in his squad and the Man Utd chief has been a long-term admirer of the
A source said: 'Emi is big pals with
'Amorim is a huge admirer of his. He tried to sign him for Sporting in 2020 but lost out to Villa. He wants to fill the squad with captains and leaders and Emi fits the bill perfectly.'
Amorim has already landed
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
But now the Portuguese coach could land another South American in
Onana has been linked with an Old Trafford exit after a number of high-profile blunders since joining from
Bayindir also did not cover himself in glory when he conceded four in a loss at Newcastle after he was given the chance to replace error-prone Onana.
Martinez signed a new five-year £150,000-a-week deal with Villa less than a year ago, but the Midlands club failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Most read in Football
BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK
Any bid of around £40m would ease Villa's financial concerns to satisfy Uefa's squad cost ratio after Unai Emery's side finished sixth in the Prem and secured Europa League football.
He sparked speculation over his future after he broke down in tears and took a bow in front of the Holte End after Villa's final home game of the season.
Emi Martinez in tears as he waves goodbye to fans after Aston Villa's final home game
Martinez has been previously linked with
Reports in his homeland of Argentina claimed Man Utd were 'advancing in talks' to bring him to Manchester.
6
6
However, even if a deal is done, Amorim will be without him for the season opener at home to
Villa have been looking for keepers themselves and have made contact with Lille over £40m-rated stopper
Join SUN CLUB for the Man Utd Files every Thursday
plus
in-depth coverage and exclusives
from Old Trafford
6
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Michael Duffy produces exquisite finish to hand Derry City three points as champions Shelbourne remain off the pace
That's why Tiernan Lynch will take a lot of satisfaction from this win at the home of the champions, a first successful foray to the capital under his watch. Philip O'Doherty, Derry City's chairman and financial backer, spoke earlier this week about how Lynch had been given the biggest budget in the club's history. This important victory brings the Candystripes into the top half of the table, above a Shels side that might just need to spend a few quid when the window reopens if they are to make the most of their European campaign. On the first league Friday of February, the idea that Shels would be 15 points off the pace at this juncture would have been unthinkable for Damien Duff and his staff. They overperformed dramatically to win the title last year, but they are failing to meet expectations this term. Duff will say that the league is the bread and butter, but the Reds investors will know that the best way to salvage their season is to find a way past Linfield in the Champions League qualifiers. A defeat to a team from Derry is a blow. They'll need to be sharper than a Belfast opponent rolls into town on July 9. After an unremarkable first half, this game was decided in a dramatic 54th minute. As Shelbourne digested a near miss, when Sam Todd cleared an Evan Caffrey chip off the line with Brian Maher exposed, the Candystripes responded by going straight up the other end and scoring. Michael Duffy still had plenty to do when he breached a Shels offside trap to collect a pass from Carl Winchester, but Derry's leading local light showed his quality by dribbling infield and keeping Kameron Ledwidge at the right distance before producing a superb left footer into the top corner that gave Conor Kearns zero chance. It was a goal Derry deserved on the overall balance of play to that point. They came with a Shamrock Rovers style box midfield with Winchester and Sadou Diallo in front of the back three and Duffy and Gavin Whyte roaming behind lone striker Liam Boyce. It was Boyce who threatened early, with a speculative attempt from distance that dropped onto the net with Kearns followed by a much better opportunity when a neat passage culminated with the winter arrival from Hearts dinking the ball wide of the post. Duff was animated and frustrated. Yes, there were spells where they seemed happy for the guests to have the ball. In truth, they didn't create a huge amount else prior to the interval. But he was clearly vexed by the lack of tempo in some of Shelbourne's play when they had the ball. ADVERTISEMENT In saying that, they did have the best first half chance with John Martin unable to accurately anticipate a Sean Boyd flick when Brian Maher seemed to be in bother. Martin – who was on a yellow – didn't return for the second half and Kerr McInroy, who replaced Mark Coyle after the skipper was struck down in the warm-up, departed after a quiet contribution. But it was Derry that seized the lead, with Shels back chasing the game on home soil again. Scoring first and holding onto it was the hallmark of their title charge. Too often, it's been a different story. A reaction did follow with Duff going for movement off the bench with Ali Coote and Daniel Kelly tasked with supporting Mipo Odubeko. Coote was busy and the energy levels increased but the end product was poor as Derry trusted their experienced rearguard to see it out. They ran the clock and committed fouls when necessary, all the things you need to do to win ugly. On the sideline, Duff could have no complaints. Shelbourne: Kearns, Bone, Barrett, Ledwidge; Caffrey, Lunney, McInroy (Chapman 45), Norris (Coote 62); Wood (O'Sullivan 77); Boyd (Kelly 62), Martin (Odubeko 45). Derry City: Maher, Boyce, Cann, Connolly, Holt, Todd; Diallo (Benson 62), Winchester (Hoban 89); Whyte (McMullan 62), Duffy; Boyce (Mullen 62).
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Séamas O'Reilly: Trump is trying to bait minorities with the beautiful game — with FIFA's help
You likely don't read this column for football news. You read this column because someone in my family sent it to you once and giving up reading it now would seem rude. It's true, however, that I'd rather eat glass than wade into 99% of footballing discourse. And then, alas, there comes an omnishambles of such magnificent proportions that it is not merely a duty but a pleasure for me to pipe up. I speak, of course, of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, relaunched and revamped in a massively expanded format and currently broadcasting its feast of the global game to, oh, tens of people in its host nation of the US. Where do we even start? Perhaps it makes sense to begin with the tournament's, frankly, massive roster of 32 teams. Each gained entry via rules that make the UEFA Nations League seem positively streamlined. Describing even their broadest outline causes me great pain, so I apologise in advance for sounding like the Architect from the Matrix as I do just that. So. Deep breath. IT'S EASY, REALLY Twelve of the 32 teams are from Europe and six are from South America, with the remaining 14 teams coming from the rest of the world. Some teams from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia qualify by winning their respective continental championships over the past four years, with one additional spot given to a single team from the Oceania region, and another for the host nation. If you think this sounds a bit fiddly but broadly sensible, consider that further spots for European and South American teams are allocated on the basis of co-efficient rankings for teams who haven't won their Champions League equivalent, which is how Red Bull Salzburg gained a place via the fact they were judged, to quote FIFA's wording, 'ninth-best ranked eligible team in the Uefa four-year ranking'. Liverpool, despite being judged the fifth-best team in Europe in the same period, do not qualify because Man City and Chelsea have already qualified and no more than two European sides can be from the same country. The same rule does not apply to South American sides, however, which is why there are four Brazilian teams in the competition and, dear God, there's foam coming out of your mouth, so I will end things there. The upshot is that this tournament is vastly overstuffed — very much the 'meeting that could have been an email' of football competitions. More teams obviously means more games, which means more revenue, but also more wear and tear. At the end of a packed season, in an era where everyone in football can't help groaning about how exhausted footballers — and punters — are by the number of games played, this already seems like a risky proposition to the world's footballing giants. The answer, I suppose, is to give them more money than any such competition has ever done before, with a reported $1bn prize pot spread across those taking part. Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham gives an interview prior to the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Al Ahly and Inter Miami in Miami, Fla. HOCKEY SCORES The wildly variable quality of the teams admitted, however, represents an unavoidable issue. These match-ups aren't great. Much has been made of the fact that Bayern Munich beat Auckland 10-0 in their first game. It's true that other hockey scores might arise as the tournament progresses but the main problem is that even the closer, more combative games lack stakes. This is because, as anyone who loves football can tell you, we do not watch for the quality of a team, but for the quality of the contest. It's why watching Derry play Shamrock Rovers is 10 times more thrilling than watching Real Madrid play a pre-season tour of Indonesia. It's why if England were playing Andorra in your next-door neighbour's garden, you wouldn't even look over the fence. All that being said, the colossal failure of the competition still needs further explaining. Many news organs have reported — it must be said, quite gleefully — that ticket sales have gone from bad to worse to truly abysmal. This was particularly clear during the match between Lionel Messi's Miami and Egyptian side Al Ahly, which took place in a Hard Rock Stadium that looked like it had been evacuated due to a gas leak. The Athletic reported that tickets for that game had plunged from $349 to $4 and drew a logical link between this and poor organising on FIFA's part but also its craven acquiescence with the Trump administration's increasingly draconian border policies. Here, things get altogether less funny. A general view before the start of the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Al Ahly and Inter Miami in Miami, Fla., Saturday, June 14, 2025. SETTING A SNARE A few days before kick-off, both ICE and US Border Patrol were announced as providing 'security' for the tournament. Given that these are not first-response security agencies, this made little sense from a logistical or safety perspective. It did, however, make abundant sense from an 'arresting the sorts of people in America who might be overwhelmingly interested in watching football, specifically featuring foreign teams' perspective. As such, a massive swathe of America's most ardent soccer fans are staying home because they see this for what it is: Trump turning the entire tournament into a cardboard box propped up with a stick to ensnare migrants, and FIFA eagerly abetting him in this endeavour. Perhaps its willingness to do so shouldn't be a surprise, given FIFA's track record of kowtowing to dictators and despots, from Russia to Qatar and incoming hosts Saudi Arabia, or its ancillary decisions at this very tournament, including removing all branding related to its anti-racism initiatives for fear it might stoke anti-DEI backlash from the hosts. Which is why, despite the delicious schadenfreude of seeing FIFA landing on its arse like this, the Club World Cup is not really a laughing matter. It's a bloated mess and the worst conceivable advert for the game, one that no participating team can possibly enjoy and which no punters can show up to attend for fear they'll be arrested and sent to a Salvadoran super-prison. All this, so FIFA's amoral profiteers can make a few more quid, makes for a sad, disgusting spectacle. We should pity all 312 people still watching.
Irish Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Celtic legend on Martin O'Neill, working in a burger van and leukaemia battle
Stiliyan 'Stan' Petrov joined Glasgow Celtic from CSKA Sofia in 1999 and had a torrid time initially — before working in a burger van put him right. Four SPL titles, three SFA Cups, three League Cups, player of the year, a UEFA Cup runners-up medal, 228 appearances and 64 goals later, he would rejoin Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa. Many would pinpoint the standout win of his Celtic career as the 2002/03 two-legged UEFA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool, 1-1 at Paradise before a sensational 2-0 win at Anfield in the second leg. He he joined Villa in 2006, and would remain until pre-season 2016. While in Birmingham, he won a Sunday League junior football cup, a success Petrov describes as the biggest victory of his life. Diagnosed with acute leukaemia in March 2012, Petrov retired from football in May 2013 and after spells as Villa youth coach in 2013, assistant coach in 2015, he would resume full-time training with the first team squad ahead of the 2016/17 season. 'Leukaemia was probably the toughest of my own opponents,' he says. 'It was something that I had to battle really hard. 'It was three years of a difficult battle, highs and lows, dark moments, mental issues. But you know what, it just shows you how strong we are as human beings and it's something that I will always remember, I'll never forget. 'I was fortunate to have a great family, a great, great wife, Paulina, she kind of put her life aside to make sure that she looked after me. 'And that's why I have a foundation, based in Bulgaria, England and Spain, I always like to help because I know how important the support is and helping others makes a huge difference. 'We support over 50 hospitals around the world. We create events, we raise funds, and we donate money for other people to have a better treatment and better life.' That 2016/17 pre-season tour with the Villans saw Petrov score in an 8-0 win over Austrian team GAK, but he was not offered a contract by then-boss Roberto De Matteo. Yet still, Petrov had come a long way since arriving at Celtic as a teenager in 1999. 'Obviously the start was tough for me, I'd a new coach, the speed of the football as well made it even more difficult,' explains the former Bulgaria international. 'But mainly, I felt that not being able to communicate with my teammates pushed me further from the dressing-room, so it was making sure that I understand what's happening in the dressing-room and I felt that I had to find a solution. 'And my solution at that time was I had a friend who was Scottish, he owned the burger van and obviously noticed that I couldn't speak English, I couldn't explain things — I couldn't place an order. 'We started with basic things and, I'll never regret it because that gave me a chance to stay at Celtic and be successful.' It proved to be a seven-year stay, 1999-06, that coincided with an eclectic set of talented stars. 'I've enjoyed playing with pretty much everyone, he says. 'We had a very, very strong team in my time and, obviously, Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton, they are ones that you can pick out. 'But I've played with some great players with some great characters as well, Neil Lennon, Paul Lambert, Joos Valgaeren, Johan Mjallby and, further down the line, playing with Shunsuke Nakamura, who was exceptional as well.' The week-in, week-out support of the fans at Celtic was exceptional. 'I loved playing in front of the Celtic fans because they're passionate, they love the club and they follow everywhere the club goes. 'I actually spoke with Lenny the other day, he doesn't really play anymore, he is a bit big now! I think the last game he played was my testimonial at Celtic Park.' Martin O'Neill was a key man for Petrov. 'I got on very well with him, still have a great friendship after he finished managing and I finished my career. 'We still keep in touch. We do a lot of events together. 'I still call him Gaffer, I love him, we have that much respect, he is just unique and weird in his own way, but in a very nice way. 'He's a great man-manager, knows how to motivate players, how to handle players with a character. 'He had one strong side, which is he always wanted to win and he sent that message every single day in a dressing-room and that made a huge difference.' Contrary to popular belief and despite being O'Neill's first signing, Petrov didn't 'follow him' to Villa. 'It wasn't my intention to go and play with Martin again,' reveals Petrov. 'I was down to sign for Portsmouth when Harry Redknapp and Portsmouth were doing very well. 'It's funny how things work but me and Gareth Barry, who was at Villa where Martin O'Neill was fighting to keep him, we both were going down to sign for Portsmouth, but we both ended up at Aston Villa. 'The opportunity to work with Martin was a great pleasure because I knew how he worked. I knew how dependable he was and I loved playing under him at Aston Villa.' There was always a big club feel about Villa and their noisy Holt End fans. 'The fans at Villa are very demanding and I loved that. 'Under Martin, he created a really strong team, a really competitive team, with some good balance and a good mix between experienced players and younger players. 'And I think if you look at the Villa now they're kind of continuing that, they want to have a competitive team, not just domestically, but on the European stage as well.' Under O'Neill, there were three consecutive sixth-place Premier League finishes, an FA cup semi-final in 2010 and three European football seasons, 2009-11. But it was a different trophy at a different club in Birmingham that would mean the world to Petrov, a sign he was winning the fight for life against acute leukemia. Wychall Wanderers were managed by former Coventry City defender David Busst, and offered Petrov a lifeline. 'I'd won leagues and cups in Bulgaria, three leagues in Scotland but, for me, after going through my treatment, being able to go back on a pitch and kick the ball was the best days because I was looking forward to every Sunday,' reveals Petrov. 'I've even changed the schedule for the boys, not drinking on a Friday or a Saturday if we are playing, Sunday breakfast in the morning, getting ready for the game. 'So the boys kind of loved it too because I've demanded so much from them but for me, being on the pitch again, kicking the ball and being able to run again, even if I was heavier at that time, I loved every single minute. 'Even going to the pub after where nobody shies away from a beer and I loved that. It was the best because when you win the game, you know what, you have a pint with your friends. 'You discuss the game, what's happening in the Premier League, world football, you have great craic and build up for the next weekend.' The former Villa captain feels there is more to come from his old side as they look to build on a first-ever Champions League campaign. They were beaten 5-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals by eventual winners PSG, finished sixth in the league and made the last four in the FA Cup. Indeed, eight wins in the last ten Premier League games, their two losses coming in Manchester against City and then United on the last day, saw them only miss out on CL participation on goal difference. 'It's great what they have achieved in the last two seasons,' says 'Stan'. 'The Champions League performance there has been incredible last season, this year it will be Europa League but I think they won't really bother about that because there will be another European competition. 'And with a super manager in Unai Emery, the team and the way he works, and with my two favourites, Morgan Rogers and 'Super' John McGinn, they've got a good chance to go further in that competition.' Petrov notes Ireland's recent form under new management — four wins, four losses and two draws. But the ex-Bulgaria international has warned against misplaced optimism about the 'win' column as his country accounts for two of those four. Bulgaria may have been to seven World Cups (finishing fourth in 1994) but they have not been to a major championship since Euro 2004 and are uncompetitive at present. Recent Bulgaria results include a five-goal defeat to Northern Ireland, four-goal defeats to Greece, Switzerland, a 5-2 reverse at home to Georgia, and draws with Belarus (twice), Cyprus and Luxembourg. 'Bulgarian football is shadowed by corruption and match-fixing and people who depend on political support,' says Petrov, who made a record 105 appearances and scored eight goals for his country. 'And this makes it even harder for the younger players, for the coaches and for all the football ecosystem in Bulgarian football to flourish because we've been struggling for many, many years and it seems like we are still struggling. 'We used to play against teams, against Ireland, against the North, and expect to win, now you can see how far we are behind. 'We are a football nation and I think the fans and people around football want a change but it seems like people who run the carpentry, do the building, don't want to change and this is the biggest downfall for Bulgarian football.' Ranked No.3 in the world in June 1995, Bulgaria currently languish 71st. 'I'm not surprised they could not win against Ireland, I'm not surprised at all. I mean, our national team, our players, are really struggling to play in the big teams and the big leagues, to create leaders, which was a really big problem for Bulgarian football and this has been going on for the last 20 years. 'And it seems like there's more people who don't want to change then want to change something for good.' ***Stiliyan Petrov will be featuring in a Premier League XI playing against Ayrfield Utd (founded 1977) at Blinden Drive, Coolock, Dublin, today. The game is a fundraiser for Ayrfield Utd's new clubhouse, youth club and sensory room for neurodivergent children and adults within the community, i.e. people with autism, ADHD, Asperger syndrome. And what a team it is! Premier League XI (courtesy LegendsXI/Tony Browne): David James; Stephen Carr, Ian Harte, Jaap Stam, Wes Browne; Karol Poborsky, Jason McAteer, Keith Gillespie; Jermaine Beckford, Yakubu - plus guests.
