Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Arsenal are “further down the line” than Manchester United in their pursuit of Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez, according to talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook.
THE LOWDOWN: APPROACH REJECTED
The Gunners had a €30m (£25.8m) approach rejected by the Dutch Eredivise champions, and have in turn set a price tag of around €50M to €60M (£42m – £51m) for the Argentinian who is desperate for a move to the Premier League this summer.
Manchester United are also reportedly in the frame for Martinez’s signature, with Erik ten Hag an admirer of the ace having worked with him for a few seasons over at Ajax, and the Red Devils have reportedly asked the Amsterdam outfit to be kept informed over developments for the player.
Arsenal have supposedly offered a new bid for Martinez, but it may not be enough to convince Ajax to sell and Crook believes that the Gunners could however be at the front of the queue for his signature.
THE LATEST: FURTHER DOWN THE LINE
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said:
“I don’t see them selling Haller, Antony and Martinez. So, I think that might be dependent on what happens with Antony.
“I think Arsenal are probably further down the line with him, although United are interested.”
THE VERDICT: GET IT DONE
With the vast amount of potential, ability and versatility that the £28.8m-rated defensive destroyer could offer Mikel Arteta, it is vitally imperative that the Gunners get this deal done quickly ahead of their rivals.
The Argentinian destroyer is a superb player both on and off the ball, becoming both a destructive figure and a metronomic and influential all into one making him one of the most complete players in the Dutch Eredivisie.
The 5 foot 9 powerhouse won an incredible 69% of his individual duels and made 3.9 tackles and interceptions per game in the Eredivisie – showing that he is an aggressive defender who wins the majority of his defensive duels.
With Partey struggling with injuries, Martinez could easily fill in and do the dirty work providing his more creative teammates with the freedom to cause havoc in the final third. In fact, he’s a fantastic orchestrator of attacks.
According to FBref, the seven-time Argentine international ranks amongst the best-performing centre-backs in the continent for possession. He ranks in the top 13% for passes attempted per 90 (87.00), top 1% for pass completion % (93.0), top 1% for progressive passes (7.88) and also in the top 4% for progressive carries (6.13) highlighting his incredible variation when trying to get his team up the pitch into the attacking third.
Indeed, this is a deal the Gunners faithful will be crying out for and KSE must get it done.
AND in other news, Arsenal could still be ‘in the frame’ for £22.5m-rated talisman…
