As I said yesterday, I believe that Lisandro Martinez should be our Number One target right now ahead of Raphinha, after David Ornstein revealed that Arsenal had had an opening bid of 30m rejected by Ajax.
Now it is being reported by the Daily Mirror that the Gunners have now had talks with the player’s representatives in London, but they also had separate talks with Man United, who are now managed by Martinez’s old boss Erik Ten Hag.
It is not surprising that Ten Hag is keen on the defender considering he is as Ajax’s Player of the Year and performed consistently as Ajax won their 36th Eredvisie title last season. They also won it the year before in Martinez’s first season at the club after arriving from Argentina.
But it seems that the agents have put a spanner in the works by telling both Arsenal and Man United that they have set Martinez’s transfer fee at £42million, which is apparently about £10million above Arsenal’s valuation.
Maybe Man United may be willing to go that high considering the former excellent relationship with the new manager at Old Trafford, but we can always hope that Martinez has been impressed with Arteta’s project compared to United’s implosion at the end of last season.
Do you think we should pay the full asking price for a play known as “The butcher of Amsterdam”, considering we are desperate for cover for Kieran Tierney at left back?
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NO! PLUS;
All future football contracts should have a “failure to fulfil to the very best of their abilities” clause inbuilt. This would inhibit the likes of players who deliberately play badly´ to get out of a contract like Aubamayang did
I kind of agreed with what you said except the last part.
If auba wanted the money more, he would have seen out his contract rather than go to Barca to get paid less than what he earns at Arsenal.
Auba wasn’t saint, but he earned his contract. Unfortunately he started to decline after that.
60 goals in two seasons would get any top player with a great record such a deal.
Jesus reportedly about to earn 75% percent of salary as auba after scoring 8 goals in a season, we still bashed Auba for getting 10goals a season before. So Auba earned his contract, but somehow he stopped performing.
I agree that there’s a problem there which needs to be addressed, but it’s not easy to find a solution.
The clause you suggested is too subjective and would lead to endless legal action.
It might work if it were “in the view of Arsenal football club, the player has failed to play to ethe best of their abilities”, but then, it’d just get a contract terminated… and that’s exactly what happened with Aubameyang anyway.
The real problem is the damage it does to the Arsenal squad, both when the player is deliberately under-performing and after they leave and cann ot be replaced until the end of the season.
And in a world where player power is high… solutions are not easy to come by.
If they are asking for £45 million then we should look elsewhere.
He seems like a top top intelligent defensive player, but not for £45 million.
I would be okay with £35 million or in that region.
Lets look else where, let’s not be taken to the cleaners on all of Jesus, Raphinha and Lisandro..
And why are we pushing for Raphinha if his heart is set on Barcelona. Lets not end ip in the Vlahovic circus.. And the amount that keeps being banded about (£65 million) is absolutely ridiculous for me.
Just pay the money and get the deal done.
Don’t know much about this kid, herd he possesses great passing abilities with a compass on his left foot.
The club knew full well Tierney had overplaying injuries at Celtic. Arsenal’s surprise top 4 challenge saw Arteta take a calculated risk of playing the same back 4 game after game never rotating until one by one Tierney, Tomiyasu and Partey fell to injuries. Each one was brought back and subsequently succumbed again to injuries. That is why we missed top 4. Nothing surer. Now with all three likely to be long term injury prone we face a very costly rebuild. Selling Tierney and Partey now would be preferable but with Partey age (29) and salary 250k p/w and Tierneys obvious injury issues no one would go near buying either of them. This makes talk of another midfielder like 36mill Tielemans or a 50m Rapinha seems ludicrous when we are staring down the barrel of an unprecedented defensive injury crisis. Niles will have to be retained as RB/DM cover. Tavares being the defensive liability that he is just complicates things even more. One thing that is also glaringly obvious is that while the academy produces boat loads of flashy lightweight attackers we can’t seem to produce one half decent defender. Maybe converting some youngsters to LB is in the offing? One thing for sure there is plenty for Artedu to mull over
I think you are overstating the injury problems of Partey and Tierney and were they to be made available for transfer, which is highly unlikely, a host of Clubs would be interested in acquiring such highly talented players.As for Martinez who is a very good , versatile player, I would meet the asking price, and make every effort to sell Xhaka and AMN to partly offset the outlay.
Are we seriously considering 45million pay for a backup. And the funny part is that the player he is going to be deputizing was bought for 25million or so. If Arteta thinks he is good enough then, we should pursue the deal. I think, Arteta has proven us wrong, when it comes to seeing players potential. I have realized that, players seen by us as not good enough but only by Arteta, tend to do well.
I don’t entirely disagree, although I’m not sure it’s “backup” as such.
Although people always say “backup” (and I’ve fallen into saying that lately as well), I understand MA and co want “competition for places” in each position rather than backup.
In reality it may be that Tierney is injured so there’s no competition at all, but that’s another discussion.
Sure! fully agreed with you. A look at somebody from league may workout well
Now that seemingly Man Utd are also keen, I think it very likely that a lack of spare funds will frustrate our desire to buy this player A shame, but that’s what I predict will happen.
United will be bound to seriously back TEN HAG, IMO!
Let them have him. We have our starters and need backup for that position. 45mill is more than Gabriel costs. That’s not a good price. He’s young too and we need to ask the question if we were to sell him at some point would we be making a return. Unlikely. Who is the next on the list?
This guy should be top priority. Even over Raphinha. I’m pretty sure Lisandro Martinez wouldn’t simply be a bench warmer either. KT is just too prone to injury and would likely be considered for good rotation. Next season will be really busy. I actually believe £40-£45m would be good business considering his abilities.
Absolutely agree with this. He’ll get plenty of playing time even with no injuries. Martinez will start at LCB at times and at LB at others, and he’ll be on the bench for a few as well. Gabriel and Tierney can possibly escape the injury bug if they are intermittently rested. Martinez can also play at CDM in a pinch (as can Ben White). If Ajax want 42mm how about offering 32mm plus 10mm in add-ons? I would also sell Xhaka to Roma for 10mm and buy Tielemans for 25mm.
Martinez has the advantage of playing also in a defensive midfield position, which means that he can also cover injure-prone Partey.
Alternatively, we could also hire Zinchenko, who could potentially come for a bit less than Martinez. He’s a very good right back, but also plays as defensive midfielder for Ukraine.
Would love this move. He dominated for Ukraine as a CDM in the two qualifying games I watched against Scotland and Wales. Much better player than Xhaka. If he’s less expensive than Tielemans I would buy him in a heartbeat.
This is bad news, since I saw this as the priority signing up to now.
However, transfer fee is not the only issue, the real question is total cost of ownership (TCO) – the player’s wages are a big factor.
If his wages are low/reasonable he can be moved on if he becomes surplus to requirements, unlike the big earners – possibly even at a profit.
And if clubs start to push down players’ demands when their current clubs try to inflate the transfer fee, they will start to exert pressures themselves (such as lower buy-out clauses).
But I suspect that he’ll end up at MU if there’s already a relationship there, that’s how it seems to work these days – Ajax will be inflating the price because they know MU is interested.
Just read in the Sun (yeah, ok, I know) that Arsenal is prepared to match Ajax’s valuation of £42m for Martinez.
Additionally, they report on Saliba (copy pasted for convenience but credit given to the Sun):
“William Saliba has reportedly held “positive” contract talks at Arsenal as the club look to tie him down to a long-term deal.
The 21-year-old looks finally set to be a part of the Gunners squad three years after joining from Saint-Etienne for £27million.
Boss Mikel Arteta said last month the France international will be integrated into his team following his impressive loan at Marseille.
His stunning form helped the Stade Velodrome outfit finish second in the table, with his performances earning him the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award.
Marseille are keen to turn his temporary stay into a permanent switch amid claims the club are poised to submit a £26m bid.
But the North London giants will refuse to part ways with the youngster, with Saliba to challenge Ben White and Gabriel Magaelhaes for a starting spot.”
If we sign Lisandro we can sell Saliba, but I think he’s going to be the best CB we have so I wouldn’t do it. And certainly not for less than 50mm.
Time and time again, we have
watched as clubs like united come in and offer what the selling club are asking for, while we dither about offering silly opening offers.
If Mikel wants the player,, decide if we can afford him and then just do the business – Partey’s transfer showed we can do it!!!
Martinez would be a real asset if Arsenal get him since he can play a number of positions. I hope we get him. His versatility is worth the cost to the club.