Man Utd ready to land Lisandro Martinez in £40m transfer after meeting with Ajax top brass

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Manchester United have stepped up their bid to land Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez after meeting with the Dutch club's new director of football.

Former Holland striker Klass-Jan Huntelaar travelled to London on Saturday to discuss the terms of a deal with United officials - and the Reds believe they are now in pole position to land Martinez ahead of Arsenal.

Ajax have slapped a £43million valuation on the 24-year-old Argentine international in an effort to price him out of a move. But United have offered a package worth £39.6million to put pressure on the Gunners to increase their latest bid of £34million.

United's deal would see them pay £35.3million up front with a series of guaranteed add-ons handing the Dutch champions a further £4.3million.

Huntelaar's presence in London at the weekend suggests an agreement is close. He succeeded Marc Overmars as Ajax's transfer negotiator six weeks ago.

Overmars resigned after admitting he had sent inappropriate text messages to female members of staff.

It is understood that the talks went well and that the feeling on both sides is that Martinez will join United in time to join Erik ten Hag's squad when they fly out to Bangkok on Friday to start a pre-season