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£25m Ajax man joins Timber, Antony on Man Utd’s shortlist as Ten Hag prepares raid of old club

Published

2 years ago

May 18, 2022

Lisandro Martinez is one of three Ajax players on Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United transfer shortlist, according to reports.

The Dutch manager is poised to take over at Old Trafford when this season concludes, leaving Ajax after guiding them to the Eredivisie title.

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Unsurprisingly, numerous players from the Amsterdam club have been linked with a move to United.

Brazilian winger Antony and versatile defender Jurrien Timber instantly emerged as potential signings, with star midfielder Ryan Gravenberch reportedly close to joining Bayern Munich.

And now The Telegraph (via the Express) report that Argentine defender Martinez has been added to Ten Hag’s summer wishlist.

It is guaranteed to be a busy summer at Old Trafford and Martinez could be a handy addition having played under Ten Hag for three years. The 24-year-old can play centre-half, left-back and defensive midfield.

The Argentine has played 37 matches across all competitions this term and joined Ajax from Defensa for around £6.3m.

Ten Hag sees Martinez as an ‘ideal player’ to pursue and it is claimed that the Eredivisie champions are looking for a fee in the region of £25m to let him leave.

Meanwhile, Ajax’s Daley Blind has opened up on what it is like to work under the incoming United manager.

Speaking in an interview on Bij Andy in de Auto, Blind – who played for the Red Devils between 2014-2018 – said: “Erik ten Hag is a great guy.

“It’s not an easy job, of course, but he doesn’t run away from it either. He takes up the challenge.

“I am quite confident in him at Manchester United but he needs the board behind him. At Ajax he had [Edwin] Van der Sar and [Marc] Overmars behind him whatever happened, also in bad times.

“I hope he gets the time there, he is one of the best managers around.

“Ten Hag leaves nothing at chance. Sometimes we faced an opponent that we would automatically underestimate and we thought, ‘we don’t need a 45 minute meeting for this’.

“But he approaches every single game the same, tactical training sessions.. everything is detailed.”