Manchester United are edging closer to sealing a deal for Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez.
Ajax are resigned to losing the Argentina international, 24, who has told them of his desire to move to Old Trafford. United are understood to have submitted an improved bid for Martinez which is thought to be in the region of £46million.
The defender is expected to complete a group of four-centre halves that Erik ten Hag will use for the season ahead, playing alongside and being rotated with Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof, with the likes of Axel Tuanzebe, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones deemed surplus to requirements.
Improving the defence was one of the priorities for United coming into this transfer window and getting the Martinez deal over the line will be deemed a successful piece of business. However, there are concerns among some about the size of the Argentinian.
He stands at 5'10", which is fairly small compared to many other top central defenders across Europe. In fact, if he arrives, he’ll actually be among the smallest 10 per cent of Premier League central defenders.
Despite this, the 24-year-old has an excellent leap which compensates for his natural size. This point is captured by the fact that last season, only three Eredivisie centre-backs who played over 1000 minutes could better his aerial duel success rate of 66.15 per cent.
Coming up against potentially more robust opponents in the Premier League will test his credentials in this department, yet it does still suggest that he might be able to compete much more than people would initially assume.
In terms of duels on the ground, Martinez again ranked among the top 10 of those aforementioned Eredivisie centre-backs with a success rate of 73.72 per cent. That bettered the success rate of each of Varane, Maguire and Lindelof at United last season.
While the above numbers capture some of his ability from a defensive point of view, it’s a lot of his work away from the point of duelling with attackers that will appeal so much to Ten Hag. He’s got excellent pace, meaning he’s well suited to playing in a high defensive line, something that Ten Hag will look to deploy at United next season.
Further, according to FBref’s player comparison tool, Manchester City ’s Ruben Dias is one of the players who - from a style and data perspective - is most similar to Martinez, and it’s easy to see why.
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Not only is he a good defender, but the 24-year-old is also extremely composed in possession. He had the fourth-best past success rate for central defenders across Eredivisie last season, which is particularly impressive given that only his teammate Daley Blind averaged more pass attempts on average.
Martinez’s introduction to the United backline will be pivotal in Ten Hag implementing his philosophy. He’ll add a capacity to defend higher and also the team build from the back. These were two things that United struggled to do effectively last season, and two areas in which Dias has excelled for league champions City since his £65million arrival in 2020. Many regard the Portugal international as one of the division's finest centre-backs - up there with Virgil van Dijk - and he helped the Sky Blues achieve the joint-best defensive record last term.
The fact Martinez is left-footed and favours playing on that side of a defensive pairing will also bring some much-needed competition for Maguire, who faces a big campaign this year with plenty to prove.
