Manchester United confirmed on Sunday that they have agreed a fee with Ajax for defender Lisandro Martinez.
The fee is in the region of £53 million, with a further £8.5 million in add ons based on performance related outcomes.
The player is yet to officially sign for the club, as the deal is still subject to a medical, the player officially agreeing to personal terms and for his visa application to successfully be processed.
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Many thought that the player might be able to complete the deal in time to fly out to Australia to meet with the side before the club’s fixture list, however this is highly unlikely.
Both him and new signing Christian Eriksen are set to join up with the rest of the squad when they get back to Manchester on 24 July, and will probably make their debuts for the club either during the side’s pre-season fixture against Atletico Madrid in Oslo on 30 July or the fixture back at Old Trafford the following day against Rayo Vallecano.
Upon the signing of the defender, much talk online arose about the player’s height.
Lisandro Martinez stands at 5ft 9 inches tall, which for a centre-back in the Premier League is very short.
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It is very rare to see a small defender succeed in the league, however a very interesting stat uncovered by Opta shows how this might not matter for the man nicknamed ‘The Butcher Of Amsterdam.’
At said height, it would be easy to assume Martinez loses a lot of his aerial duels, however it’s been revealed that he in fact has the highest aerial duel success in the Eredivisie for any player who had contested 100+ duels this season.
Out of these duels, Martinez has won 70.2% of them, which is incredibly impressive. In a league where physicality is becoming an ever more necessary trait, the Argeninian’s ability to compete successfully in the air will become incredibly useful.
Another brilliant part of Martinez’s game is his passing.
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Erik ten Hag wants to implement a controlling, aggressive, and dominating style of play at Old Trafford. This has been obvious in the two pre-season fixtures so far, with the club beating Liverpool 4-0 in Bangkok before heading to Melbourne to beat local side Melbourne Victory 4-1 a few days later.
The encouraging performances has Manchester United fans rightfully excited about what may be this season, and Lisandro Martinez’s brilliant on the ball ability will only add to this.
In the Eredivisie, no player who played 10 or more fixtures in the entire division completed more passes per 90 minutes than Martinez – 82.3.
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This statistic, considering he is a central defender, is mightily impressive. This ability on the ball to complete that many passes so often and with such accuracy will enhance Ten Hag’s ability to control matches just in the way he did with Martinez at Ajax.
The club are set to play Crystal Palace on Tuesday, before a fixture against Aston Villa on Saturday in Perth sees the club round off their pre-season tour of Australia.
The aforementioned friendlies against Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano will then take place the weekend before the Premier League season starts, which for Manchester United is on 7 August as Brighton & Hove Albion visit Old Trafford for the first official game under the leadership of Erik ten Hag.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Lisandro Martinez, Erik Ten Hag, Ajax, Manchester United, Football, Christian Eriksen