Manchester United dealt transfer blow as Arsenal bid new offer for Ajax star Lisandro Martinez
According to The Telegraph (Subscription Required), Manchester United have been dealt a transfer blow in their pursuit of Ajax star Lisandro Martinez as Arsenal have bid a new offer for his services. Both English clubs are actively pursuing the defender, and a bidding war between them could be underway.
Earlier, it was revealed that Man United had matched the Gunners’ second proposal for Martinez, which amounts to £34.5million. However, Arsenal have ramped up their efforts once again with a third bid that is worth almost £40million, including bonuses.
Mikel Arteta has identified the Argentine centre-half as his top defensive target, while Erik ten Hag is also eager to reunite with his former player to strengthen his defence. Arsenal want to wrap this race as soon as possible, but the Red Devils are expected to pose stern competition even with this latest offer.
Man Utd must respond!
Now that the Mancunians have reached an agreement in principle with Barcelona and Feyenoord for Frenkie de Jong and Tyrell Malacia, respectively, they must divert our attention to other targets at the earliest. After all, we cannot afford to lose out on our options if there are plans to facilitate a rebuild.
Ten Hag would need to be provided with the right tools to get us out of our current plight, so the board must do their best to help in that regard. That means we cannot allow Arteta’s side to get ahead of us with his new offer, so an appropriate response must be made as quickly as possible.
Edwin van der Sar, our club legend, is the Dutch club’s chief executive, and hopefully provides us with some advantage or the other in this transfer race. However, we can’t take Ajax for granted because they would also not want a massive exodus to destabilise their team.
Furthermore, ten Hag’s connection with the Eredivisie outfit is also a factor to consider. At Old Trafford, the Argentine could be playing for a manager he knows very well from their time together in Holland.
Fans would hope that Martinez would uplift our leaky defence looking at how we conceded 57 goals in the previous Premier League season. But for that, we need to trump the Gunners in this bidding war.
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If Ajax have resorted to losing their star defender, then they would be loving this battle as it could drive up the price for the centre-back.
Signing the 24-year-old would also provide us with the option to utilise him as a defensive midfielder if the situation calls for it. There are many reasons why we should complete this transfer soon, so let’s hope to see that happen in the coming weeks.
