Man United manager Erik ten Hag could change Lisandro Martinez's position

Following his signing from Ajax this summer, Lisandro Martinez has endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford with six goals conceded and being taken off at half-time with his side 4-0 down at Brentford at the weekend.

There have been calls for the club to sign a defensive midfielder in order to ease their struggles in recent days, with Erik ten Hag's squad having their deficiencies laid bare during their opening two defeats of the season. Christian Eriksen was used in the role during the defeat to the Bees on Saturday.

However, Martinez is capable of performing the role, having been signed as a midfield player at Ajax before evolving into a centre-back while playing in the less physical Dutch Eredivise. It is also a role pinpointed as being suitable by former Manchester United treble winner Jaap Stam - who coached at Ajax from 2014-2016 before managing Championship side Reading from 2016-2018.

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Stam has previously outlined the player's skills, saying that his technical qualities alongside his capability as an aggressive ball winner could make him suitable for the role which United fans are craving. There have also been questions as to the player's 5ft 9in stature, with Jamie Carragher suggesting that the player is too short to play in a back four.

"You can clearly see that Ten Hag's approach is to dominate matches and control the opponent's half," Stam explained, as quoted by Sport Witness. "Then you play with a lot of space in the back and you need players who are reasonably fast and not afraid to cover. Malacia has that and Martinez certainly.

"Back in the day, defenders in England couldn't be big enough. Two metres was good, also to be