Arsenal are set to up their offer to sign Lisandro Martinez as the Gunners look to beat Manchester United to the signing of the Ajax defender.
Martinez wants to move to the Premier League amid interest from the duo, with Arsenal having seen a second offer for the 24-year-old rejected last week. United have since submitted their own bid of £38m to sign the centre-back, though the proposal falls below Ajax’s £43m valuation.
The Mail are reporting that Arsenal will now increase their offer in a bid to win the race, as the north Londoners look to convince Martinez to turn down a reunion with Erik ten Hag and move to the Emirates.
The Argentina international was named as Ajax’s Player of the Season in 2021/22 after winning the Eredivisie and possesses a strong relationship with Ten Hag, who departed the Dutch side for Old Trafford this summer.
However, according to the Mirror, Manchester United are currently in ‘pole position’ to signed the defender after officials of the two clubs met in London over the weekend.
The report says that talks between Ajax and United ‘went well’ with there being hope that Martinez’s future could even be sorted in time for him to make Man Utd’s pre-season flight to Bangkok on Friday.
The defender has made 120 appearances across three seasons at Ajax and has featured predominantly at centre-back, though is also comfortable at full-back and in defensive midfield.
He has also won seven caps for Argentina at international level and formed part of the squad that won the Copa America in 2021, making one appearance.
