Bloody-minded Emi Martinez would thrive at Man Utd: Ruben Amorim needs his goalkeeper to focus on shot-stopping rather than footwork

When United signed Andre Onana in 2023, all the talk was about the Cameroonian's skill with the ball at his feet and how his arrival would help Erik ten Hag finally implement the possession-based football he wanted his United team to play to take them to the next level. Not much analysis was done on Onana's shot-stopping ability, and his shortcomings in that area were brutally exposed soon after his £47m ($64m) arrival from Inter.

Onana was lobbed from the halfway line in a friendly against Lens on his Old Trafford debut before enduring a truly torrid time in the Champions League, as he made ghastly errors against Bayern Munich and in both matches against Galatasaray which directly led to United being dumped out of Europe's elite competition. He has continued to make high-profile errors ever since, most notably in April's Europa League clash with Lyon after being dragged into a war of words with Nemanja Matic.

His footwork has barely compensated for all those errors, and after two years there has been no noticeable improvement in United's ability to play out from the back. Onana has even cost them infuriating goals when trying to play out, such as when he failed to communicate with Patrick Dorgu against Ipswich Town in February. The goalkeeper has mostly abandoned short passing and has resorted to hoofing the ball downfield, more often than not hitting it out of play or to the opposition.

Onana's litany of mistakes have evidently frustrated Ruben Amorim, and the Portuguese even dropped the goalkeeper for one game after the Lyon debacle. When asked in a press conference whether he needed to replace Onana in the long term, Amorim did get into a heated argument with a reporter, but what was most telling was that he did not defend his No.1 nor talk up his qualities. "We need to improve every position on the field" was his response; not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Just as the season was winding down, it was reported that Amorim had grown so frustrated with Onana's mistakes that he had tweaked the team's style of play to discourage the ex-Ajax man from playing out from the back. It was also reported that the coach primarily wanted a goalkeeper who could give 'peace of mind' and 'reduce the sense of volatility' that had defined the team's defensive displays.

The search for a potential Onana replacement would focus on ' fundamental traits like shot-stopping, catching, and minimising errors rather than building play from the back'. If that report is accurate, then Martinez and Amorim are speaking the same language.

Martinez has taken the long road to superstardom after joining Arsenal as a 17-year-old. He spent time up and down England playing in the unglamorous lower leagues, dropping as low as fourth-tier League Two to play for Oxford United as well as taking in Championship stints with Wolves, Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham United.

Playing out from the back is rarely a priority in such surroundings, and Martinez thus focused on the basics of goalkeeping. He maintained that focus when his career began to finally take off back at Arsenal and then at Villa, as well as when he became Argentina's No.1 as he played a pivotal role in them winning the World Cup and two Copas America.

Martinez saved three penalties in the semi-final shootout triumph over Colombia in the 2021 Copa America, playing incredible mind games with his opponents which could be easily heard in a stadium that was empty due to Covid-19 rules. His shootout heroics continued into both the 2022 World Cup quarter-final win over the Netherlands and the final victory against France, as well as in the 2024 Copa America quarters against Ecuador. He collected the Golden Glove at all three tournaments and was subsequently named the top goalkeeper in the world, winning the Yashin Trophy (part of the Ballon d'Or awards) in 2023 and 2024 while scooping the FIFA Best Goalkeeper prize in 2022 and 2024.

Martinez celebrates the fact that he is known above all for his ability to make saves. He told ESPN's 'Sports Center': "Now in the football world the first question they ask about a goalkeeper is 'Is he good with his feet?'. Sometimes clubs maybe sign a goalkeeper who's skilled with their feet but doesn't save much. I always focus on needing to save better than I play with my feet. I focus on saving, saving, saving. By saving, I win titles."

Signing Martinez would signal United going back to their roots for having a goalkeeper who is adept at making saves. David de Gea was an incredible shot-stopper and that is why he went on to become the goalkeeper with both the most appearances and clean sheets in the club's history. That ability was ultimately under-appreciated by the club amid their bid to modernise and find their own version of Ederson, but signing Martinez would be a step back in the right direction.

The 32-year-old is a figure who intimidates opposition players. In his own words, he likes to "create chaos" for his rivals, and he shares many traits with United's most legendary goalkeeper of all, Peter Schmeichel.

Former United and Villa 'keeper Mark Bosnich has likened Martinez to the Great Dane, particularly in one-v-one situations. "Schmeichel-esque, in how he makes himself like a handball goalkeeper," he told The Athletic. "It’s the spread eagle. The closer the shot is, the less time you have and this method becomes effective. For a striker, it’s not nice when they see a big target coming towards them."

Martinez and Schmeichel are both imposing characters who are unafraid to command their areas and boss their defenders around with authority, which is something that De Gea lacked. Onana, admittedly, also has a big personality and likes to wind up opposition fans, but as Matic put it so brutally, he has not been able to back up his words with his performances.

"He has a great energy," Bosnich added on Martinez. "If you look through his career and where he’s come from, he has a tinge of insecurity, which is understandable. I can understand why people think he’s arrogant, but it’s insecurity disguised as arrogance. You don’t achieve what Emi has done without confidence, but I know what it is because I was accused of arrogance and deep down, it wasn’t that: it is confidence with a tinge of insecurity. There must have been times when he thought, ‘Maybe it’s time to do something else’ during his loans at Rotherham, Reading, Sheffield Wednesday, Oxford etc. But he didn’t - instead, he reached the pinnacle."

Signing Martinez would not be cheap, with Villa reportedly demanding £40m ($54.7m) for him as his contract does not run out until 2029. It would also be a move away from United's more recent transfer policy of signing younger players with sell-on potential, as Martinez turns 33 in September and is looking for the last big move of his career.

But there is also value in signing a goalkeeper with a wealth of Premier League experience, who has performed on the biggest stage of all and proved to be unfazed by it. There is a parallel with the stage of career Martinez is at and another great United 'keeper in Edwin van der Sar. The Dutchman was 34 when he joined United from Fulham in 2005, but he had four years of experience in the Premier League and he had played at the highest level already with Ajax and Juventus, while he had gone deep at major tournaments with the Netherlands. That experience served Van der Sar well at Old Trafford as he went on to enjoy the best spell of his career there, winning four Premier League titles and reaching three Champions League finals.

Van der Sar is a very different personality to Martinez, but the Dutchman's time with the Red Devils shows the value of signing a goalkeeper with real experience. Many promising goalkeepers have folded in the face of the immense pressure of playing for United and the scrutiny that comes with it, but there is no greater pressure than playing for Argentina at a World Cup, and Martinez has shown time and time again that he cannot just cope with the limelight, but he can thrive in it.

A lack of leaders has been a huge problem at United of late, and Martinez is exactly the type of personality they need to get back to where they want to be.