Lisandro Martinez Could Be Manchester United's Defensive Midfielder, Says Former United Defender

As Manchester United ramp up their pursuit of Ajax's Lisandro Martinez, club legend Jaap Stam has spoken on the possibility of Erik ten Hag deploying the Argentine in a defensive midfield role, should he move to Old Trafford.

Holding midfield is a position that United have struggled to fill with consistency and quality over the past few seasons.

Whilst the likes of Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay and Fred have all been tested in the role, no United player has managed to effectively lock down the position and offer great confidence to fans in recent times.

According to Jaap Stam however, this issue could soon be resolved, with the signing of Martinez.

Despite the player being largely considered a defender, he also has the ability to operte as a number six. Stam believes that he could do that job at United.

"Because Martínez is comfortable on the ball, he can also play as a defensive midfielder. I do not rule out the possibility that Ten Hag will use him there.” He told Algemeen Dagblad.

Should United secure Martinez from Ajax, Stam’s comments could feasibly come to fruition, as the Reds have two strong starting backs in Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire, should the former stay fit and the latter regain his form in the 2022/23 season.

Martinez has the skill set to provide a high level of performance at defensive midfield, in either a destroyer or quarterback role.

The 24 year-old’s underlying stats support the possibility of his potential role as a defensive midfielder, with his passing and tackling averages demonstrating an ability to use the ball in a progressive nature, whilst also ensuring the back line behind him is sufficiently protected.

During the 2021/22 season, Martinez averaged 7.88 progressive passes per game, with a 93.00% completion rate across all of his passes.

This would be crucial as a defensive midfielder under Erik ten Hag, with the Dutchman’s playstyle requiring his team to dominate games, something that becomes highly effective when a player with top level passing ability has plenty of options in front of him, as Martinez would.

In addition to this, Martinez averaged 3.12 tackles across 90 mins, with this noticeably higher than the average of 1.64 amongst other centre-backs across Europe.

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Being proficient in defensive duties and having a level of footballing intelligence that Martinez has been praised for stands the Argentine in good stead to potentially fill in as a defensive midfielder, should Ten Hag desire to employ him there.

A deal for Martinez is yet to be reached between Ajax and Manchester United however, with Arsenal also heavily linked with signing the defender.

It will be the desire of fans and those at the club to see Martinez join Old Trafford, before assessing the likelihood of him playing in various positions across the team.

Reports suggest a bid of approximately £43m by United has been refused by Ajax, with the Dutch club adamant to retain the defender for the new season. 

ffThere have been suggestions however, that the defender has his heart set on a move to Manchester United and will attempt to force his way out of Ajax.

It remains to be seen however, whether or not Martinez will come to Old Trafford for the new season, with fans becoming increasingly impatient at United’s lack of summer signings compared with rival teams