MANCHESTER UNITED are in a last-minute deadline-day scramble to sign a new keeper before the transfer window shuts tonight.
Old Trafford chiefs revived their £17million talks with Royal Antwerp for Belgian stopper Senne Lammens, 23, with hours left in the window.
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Ruben Amorim’s side have also made contact over Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez as a contingency, after seeing a loan bid rejected for the Argentina stopper in July.
Martinez, 32, was left out of Unai Emery’s squad for last night’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, amid rumours of a potential move.
The Villa keeper would cost around £40m plus his hefty wages.
It emerged on Saturday United were considering a late swoop for Martinez with Altay Bayindir making yet another howler in the 3-2 win over Burnley.
That is alongside pushing to sign highly-rated Lammens.
He has been left out of Antwerp’s last two games and drawn interest from Turkish giants Galatasaray.
But Lammens has just one full season of senior football to his name.
Negotiations stalled last week, with United’s original bid too low but Antwerp are desperate to sell and Lammens is keen on the switch.
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Villa — who have also made contact with Porto over Diogo Costa, 25 — would turn their own focus to Lammens should Martinez depart today.
Martinez is at the other end of the spectrum to Lammens regarding experience, as a 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina.
He is one of Villa’s highest earners and has five years left on his deal.
Martinez wants to leave and his camp has been in talks with United since January.
The keeper appeared to say farewell to Villa fans in the final home game last season before being sent off at Old Trafford in the last match of the campaign.
United keepers Bayindir and Andre Onana have each made several high-profile mistakes already this term.
And, after the win over Burnley, Amorim admitted: “It is hard to be a United keeper in this moment.”
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If his side gets a move over the line, one of that pair would leave, with Tom Heaton signing a year’s deal in June.
However, their destinations may have to be Saudi Arabia or Turkey, where the windows close in mid-September.
Emery hopes to “fix” the future of Martinez before today’s window slams shut — as well as strengthen his Villa squad.
He started Marco Bizot in goal against the rampant Eagles last night but the Dutchman gave away a first-half penalty.
When asked pre-match about Martinez’s situation and Bizot’s inclusion, the Basque manager simply repeated the name “Marco Bizot” THREE times.
But post-match, Emery said: “This is one thing we have to fix with [Martinez] as the window finishes.
“We are expecting something hopefully to improve our squad but we need to keep calm.
“One of the circumstances is about Emi Martinez. We will see.
Man Utd’s transfer deals
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- Bryan Mbeumo – from Brentford – £71m
- Matheus Cunha – from Wolves – £62.5m
- Diego Leon – from Cerro Porteno – £7m
- Benjamin Sesko – from RB Leipzig – £74m
TOTAL – £214.5m
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- Victor Lindelof – released
- Christian Eriksen – released
- Alejandro Garnacho – to Chelsea – £40m
TOTAL – £40m
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“We need players but we have now some good players too and we have to get some balance back again.
“We get balance by staying close to the players we are going to have after the window and after the break.
“Then, we will try to get the balance and work after the international break.”
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