Emiliano Martinez’s Transfer ‘Preference’ Revealed Amid Man Utd, Barcelona Links | OneFootball

Emiliano Martínez’s future is no clearer to being resolved, despite the goalkeeper appearing to say goodbye to Aston Villa—in tears—at the end of the Premier League season last month.

Martínez is one of Villa’s top earners after signing a new contract last year that will run until 2028, but he may feel that he has to move on to win club silverware before it’s too late.

The former Arsenal stopper turns 33 in September, not old for a goalkeeper by any stretch, and has twice been named Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper since joining Villa in 2022—albeit primarily for his successful international exploits with Argentina.

Amid links with Manchester United due to rampant speculation about André Onana’s future at the club, The Athletic writes that Martínez would “prefer” to join United or another big European club. He does not want to leave Europe for the Saudi Pro League. Barcelona had also been linked, although the club has since spent a sizeable sum to bring in Joan García from city rivals Espanyol.

Emiliano Martínez is the only two-time winner of The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year award. / IMAGO/Pro Sports Images

United are reported to have “kept in touch” with Martínez and his representatives since the start of the calendar year. But Martínez is unsurprisingly said to be of the opinion that any such move would depend on Onana leaving, and there is so far “little movement” from United to either sell him or spend big money on a new starting goalkeeper.

It has also previously been reported that, despite rumoured interest from Monaco, Onana is “determined” to stay at Old Trafford. The only way that is likely to change is if head coach Ruben Amorim makes it clear to the Cameroon international that he will no longer be No.1.

Martínez’s career as a top level goalkeeper has been relatively short. He spent 10 years at Arsenal in total, farmed out on loan six times and only finally getting his chance when Bernd Leno was injured during the Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’ in the summer of 2020.

Aston Villa saw enough in that run of nine Premier League games to pay £20 million for a 28-year-old Martínez and he surpassed 200 games for the club towards the end of 2024–25.