Emi Martinez's family speaks on failed Man Utd transfer as details emerge

Emi Martinez's much-anticipated transfer to Manchester United collapsed on the final day of the transfer window, leaving his family to address the fallout. The Aston Villa shot-stopper was reportedly keen on a move away from Villa Park after a five-year stint, with Old Trafford being a potential destination.

Despite signing a new contract previously, Villa were open to letting him go. Yet, when the transfer window closed, no satisfactory bid had been tabled by United, who had an earlier loan offer for Martinez turned down and made no further attempts, including on deadline day.

Instead, United brought in young goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp. Martinez's brother Alejandro has since shed light on the failed transfer during an interview with DSports Radio: "I was told that Emi gave a lot as a professional and as a person, they love him, and you could see that on the pitch.

"He is well-liked - and the directors didn't want to sell him because he is the key player in the team - and another team wanted him. It was that commercial dispute. These are decisions made by club officials. It didn't happen, but it's like everything else in business.

"The sporting side of things was left out of it, and everything is fine. Emi never had an argument with Unai [Emery]; it was all within the management's control, and the clubs couldn't agree.

"At Aston Villa, he's the Diego [Maradona] of Napoli. He gave a lot at Villa, like Kun [Aguero] did at City, like Leo [Messi] did at Barca.

"They're legendary players, and it's going to be hard to surpass what he did at Aston Villa."

Meanwhile, the World Cup winner's father, Alberto, also shared his views and added: "This is a job, this is a factory, and factories have employees.

"He's just another employee, and the factory won't let him go if he's good. It's all business. Tomorrow it will happen, today it didn't happen."

Martinez is under contract at Villa Park until the summer of 2029.