"I keep hearing..." – Journalist now drops surprise Man Utd update involving Lisandro Martinez

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could use Lisandro Martinez in midfield if he misses out on signing Frenkie de Jong, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The Old Trafford side recently secured the services of the centre-back from Ajax, but Jones reckons he could be a surprise alternative to De Jong.

Despite Barcelona recently confirming that De Jong is part of their travelling party to their pre-season tour of America, Sky Sports believe that United remain ‘comfortable’ of securing a deal to land the Dutchman.

The Red Devils have been chasing the midfielder’s signature throughout the summer, but Fabrizio Romano has stated that De Jong wants to remain at the Non Camp club, who are trying to push him out to help some of their financial problems.

Should United miss out on bringing De Jong to Old Trafford, they might need to look elsewhere following the departures of Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic in midfield.

However, Jones reckons that Martinez, who’s played in midfield previously, could prove a solution for Ten Hag.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “They’re definitely focused on getting De Jong done and one theory I keep hearing is if they don’t sign him, they could genuinely use Lisandro Martinez in midfield as a holder.

“Ten Hag has seen him do it to reasonable effect before at Ajax, but I think he does prefer him at centre-back.”

While Martinez is able to play in several different positions, surely one of the things that attracted United to sign him, the majority of his career has been spent at centre-back.

In his 177 first-team club appearances, more than 78 per cent of those have come at centre-back, including all of his 37 outings under Ten Hag at Ajax last season.

In fact, Martinez hasn’t played in midfield for more