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Ajax were reportedly surprised by Manchester United's initial bid of €50 million for defender Lisandro Martinez earlier this summer. The Argentine defender eventually joined the Red Devils for €67 million.
United's signing of Martinez was the subject of scrutiny by fans and pundits due to the player's height and the massive amount of money involved in the deal.
Martinez has now become the shortest centre-back in the Premier League at 5"9'. Due to his relatively small frame, there were doubts whether Manchester United's summer recruit would be able to hold his ground in the highly physical league.
De Telegraaf journalist MIke Verweij recently revealed that Ajax were surprised at the Red Devils' initial bid. However, they felt they would be acting irresponsibly by snubbing their eventual €67 million offer for Martinez.
The Dutch outfit thought it was too good of an offer and would not be matched by any other side and hence they happily sanctioned the player's sale.
Speaking about the initial bid that Manchester United had registered, Verweij said, via talkSPORT:
“When a €50m offer was placed for Martinez, Ajax asked themselves: ‘when will another club be placing such a high bid for a 1.75m centre-back? Only a Premier League club would be willing to do that."
De Telegraaf journalist added:
“And then the €57m/€67m offer came in, they believed it was totally irresponsible not to accept it. Within Ajax they were completely surprised that such a gigantic offer was placed.”
The Argentine played 120 matches for Ajax in all competitions and also contributed six goals and six assists.
Although we are only just two matchdays into the 2022-23 Premier League season, it looks like Manchester United might have overpaid Ajax for Martinez. He has flattered to deceive in the two games against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.
Erik ten Hag withdrew Martinez at half-time in the away game against the Bees. The former Ajax defender failed to hold his ground as United conceded four goals in the first half.
However, it could be argued that Manchester United were poor overall as a unit and hence lost both their matches.
The Argentine arrived in the Premier League with an impressive reputation. He is especially known for his passing abilities and competitive nature, but he is yet to stand out on those parameters.
Arsenal wanted to sign Lisandro Martinez to solve a different issue compared to Manchester United
The versatile former Ajax defender was also being courted by Arsenal. The Gunners registered a bid for Lisandro Martinez but they never matched the Dutch club's valuation.
However, The Athletic (via afcstuff) reported that Arsenal themselves had concerns over fielding the Argentine as a centre-back due to his small frame.
They were mainly looking to sign him to provide competition for Kieran Tierney at left-back or play as a defensive midfielder on the odd occasion.
As it stands, their decision to pull out of the race for Martinez and sign Oleksandr Zinchenko is looking more and more sensible with every passing matchday.
