Could Lisandro Martinez solve Manchester United’s problems in defensive midfield?

Manchester United are battling it out with Arsenal to sign Lisandro Martinez and hope that the Argentine’s relationship with Erik ten Hag will help persuade the Ajax ace to move to Old Trafford.

The perceived wisdom is that the Dutchman wants Martinez to be the type of tenacious, ball-playing defender that United have lacked in recent years and the Argentine’s knowledge and know-how of Ten Hag’s system could prove invaluable to how he wants to play at Old Trafford.

But, while United’s defensive record left much to desire last term, they are still well stocked at centre-back and it’s perhaps surprising that Ten Hag is targeting another defender when there’s other areas of the squad that arguably need more urgent attention.

But previous comments from Ten Hag when Ajax signed Martinez in 2020 shows that the Dutchman wanted the Argentine to play defensive midfield in Amsterdam and that could suggest

‘At the beginning of the (2019-20) season, we were looking for a brain for central midfield,’ Ten Hag said in an interview in 2020. ‘We knew Martinez had played there but could he do it in Ajax’s system? We tried him there and we saw good things.’

Despite Ten Hag’s fondness of Martinez in midfield, he started just 15 times there in 70 league matches for Ajax.

Erik ten Hag 'forced to accept' Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo transfer decision

'We can do better than this!' — Sarina Wiegman's verdict after England beat Austria

Joan Laporta sends clear message to Man Utd over Frenkie de Jong transfer

That was in part down to Ajax’s strength in midfield but the speed in which Martinez took to playing in central defence in Amsterdam, which surprised Ten Hag.

United and Arsenal have both bid around £38m for the Argentine but Ajax want