Manchester United are ready to battle Arsenal for Ajax player Lisandro Martinez.
The Ajax man who won the club’s player of the season, is a transfer target for the Gunners, who have already seen a £25million bid rejected by Ajax.
The Dutch side want around £30 million for Martinez, who was signed by Erik Ten Hag from the Argentinian side Defensa y Justicia in 2019.
And now, according to reports, United have entered the market for Martinez, although they are not prioritising his position because of the number of centre-backs they currently have.
Martinez is an Argentine international and made his debut with the national team in 2019. He was part of the squad who won the Finalissima against Italy at Wembley earlier this month and played at centre-back for 62 minutes of his country’s subsequent 5-0 thrashing of Estonia.
The 24-year-old recently agreed to new terms at Ajax and said: “I’ve grown a lot here. I’ve become a much stronger and smarter player here, and calmer on the ball.”
Martinez is known as ‘The Butcher of Amsterdam’ for his combative style of play. He was part of the Ajax team that won the Eredivisie title last season and was also part of a miserly defence that conceded only 19 goals in 34 games.
Although he was predominately used as a centre-back during the campaign, he is versatile and can play at full-back on both flanks and as a central midfielder.
His former coach Ten Hag, who officially takes over at United on July 1, predicted that Martinez would become a regular shortly after signing him to provide competition to Daley Blind, Tagliafico and Ryan Gravenberch.
Speaking about the player at the time, Ten Hag said: “I find Lisandro Martínez an excellent player. He is actually starting material, and this is why I talk with him a lot.”
