Man Utd almost signed Copa America hero but Ten Hag chose to land £42.4m star - Agent
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was very close to joining Manchester United last summer, according to his agent Gonzalo Goni.
The Red Devils were linked with Martinez last summer after they made the decision to release David de Gea following the expiry of his contract.
However, a deal never materialised. Andre Onana was the priority for manager Erik ten Hag and he was signed from Inter Milan for £42.4 million.
The Red Devils went on to recruit Altay Bayindir from Fenerbahce as his deputy.
Speaking to ESPN Argentina, Goni has disclosed that Martinez was very close to signing for the Red Devils, but Ten Hag chose to go with Onana.
He added that everyone at United later maintained that the Argentine would have been the ideal goalkeeper to win trophies in future.
He said: “Last year he was very close to Manchester United, the coach chose Onana, because he already knew him.”
“But everyone at Manchester United later maintained that the ideal goalkeeper to win was Emiliano Martinez.”
Ten Hag’s decision to sign Onana has been proved right
Onana had a poor start to his United career where he was guilty of making high-profile errors.
The Cameroon international was largely responsible for the club’s early exit from Europe. However, he managed to redeem himself and started to find his feet during the back end of the season.
The former Ajax man made an impressive 3.9 saves per game with a success rate of 79 percent. He also completed 70 percent of his passes with almost six long balls per league appearance.
In comparison, Martinez had a save success rate of only 66 percent in the league. He was better with his distribution, but was likewise guilty of making high-profile errors leading to goals.
Martinez has been a revelation for Argentina and recently helped them reach the semi-final stage of the Copa America after starring in the penalty shoot-out against Ecuador with two saves.
Despite this, his performances at club level have been inconsistent. Onana is almost four years younger than Martinez and Ten Hag has probably got the decision right over his goalkeeper.
Stats from Sofascore.com