Man Utd ‘turned down different signing’ as Erik ten Hag lands Lisandro Martinez

Scott McTominay discusses new Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag

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Manchester United decided to sign Lisandro Martinez despite the club’s recruitment department recommending Pau Torres, according to reports. The Argentina international’s imminent move to Old Trafford has now been confirmed. And it means he’ll be reunited with Erik ten Hag, his old Ajax boss.

Manchester United have today confirmed they have an agreement in place that will see Martinez leave Ajax for the Premier League.

“Manchester United is delighted to announce the club has reached agreement with Ajax for the transfer of Argentine international defender Lisandro Martinez, subject to medical, to player terms being finalised, and to UK visa requirements,” it read.

And the Daily Telegraph have now claimed United turned down Torres in favour of Martinez.

The club’s scouts recommended Torres, who has been impressive for Villarreal over the past 12 months.

He was on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s radar a year ago, only for the Norwegian to end up swooping for Raphael Varane instead.

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And United have now declined the Spain international for a second time.

Instead, they opted to land Martinez after Ten Hag made it clear he’d prefer to be reunited with a player he already knows well.

Ajax signed the Argentina international back in the summer transfer window of 2019, shortly after the departure of Matthijs de Ligt.

De Ligt was allowed to move to Serie A giants Juventus, despite Barcelona previously being frontrunners in the race for the centre-back.

Martinez was relatively unknown at the time, having broken out at Defensa y Justicia in his homeland.

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But, after winning two league titles on the trot with Ajax, the 24-year-old will leave as a cult hero.

Speaking recently, he insisted he was proud of everything he’d achieved during his three years in Amsterdam.

“I am so proud of what I have achieved at Ajax and under Ten Hag,” he said.

“I grew as a player and became an Argentinian international thanks to my development at Ajax.

“And I even got to wear the captaincy armband for my country.

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“That was the day my father cried, it was very emotional. My mum cried too, my uncles, aunties, cousins, everyone.

“The World Cup is definitely my goal. We have great players and we must all be ready for it. We won the Copa America together and can do it again.”

And former United star Rio Ferdinand is excited over Martinez’s arrival.

“The more I’ve looked into him and the vibes and the stories I’m hearing and the mutterings from different people – it gets better,” he said.

“I listened to an interview with Jurrien Timber, the young player that United were looking to sign, the centre-back Martinez played alongside at Ajax.

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“He was saying, ‘When I’m not on my game and a bit out of concentration, Martinez always shouts at me, he always swears at me in in his language and gets me going.’

“I’ve been shouting about the character element for a long time and from what I’m hearing from various people, Timber being one of them, is that he has the character.

“He’s a leader. He [makes] demands of other people and he’s somebody who wants to get physical and very aggressive but who can also play.”

Ferdinand did raise two issues with the Argentine, however.

“If you’re going to ask is there any question marks about him, I think it would be his height and his pace would be the only two,” he stated.

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