Manchester United have made a final £46m offer for Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez.
That’s according to a recent report from the Telegraph, who claim the Red Devils are now clear frontrunners to sign the Argentine defender.
Although Arsenal are also interested in bringing the tenacious South American to the Premier League, the player’s preference is to be reunited with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils, who are also embroiled in talks to sign Barcelona’s Frenkie De Jong, appear to be splitting their time while negotiating a deal for Martinez with Ajax.
It isn’t hard to work out exactly why ten Hag is so keen to sign Ajax’s number 21.
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Even though United have six senior centre-backs on their books, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the futures of at least half of them.
It remains unknown what this summer will have in store for Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe – all of whom are believed to be up for sale.
However, even if ten Hag fails to offload some of the centre-backs he has inherited, Martinez is the perfect defensive addition because he is so versatile.
The 24-year-old can also play as a defensive midfielder and this is likely to appeal to the club’s coaches, as well as the fanbase.
Having struggled to identify a solid defensive midfielder for several seasons, Martinez proposed transfer could offer the 20-time league winners a solution to what has been a long-standing problem.