Lisandro Martinez to Arsenal: Ajax man could spell the end of Saliba
Robin Bairner
- 17 Jun 2022 14:50 CDT
- 3 min read
Arsenal are leading the race to sign Lisandro Martinez from Ajax, according to reports, with Barcelona and Manchester United trailing in their wake.
The Athletic has stated that the Argentine defender is now the priority for Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu this summer, with the club having already wrapped up deals to sign Matt Turner and Marquinhos from the New England Revolution and Sao Paulo respectively. Porto’s Fabio Vieira is a deal that is all but complete.
Indeed, it is reported that the Gunners have already had a €30 million bid rebuffed.
It promises to be a challenge for Arsenal to complete a deal. Ajax do not want to lose too many players after seeing manager Erik ten Hag leave for Manchester United this summer. Ryan Gravenberch has already left for Bayern Munich while Antony is expected to follow his former coach to Old Trafford.
The Amsterdam club are financially well placed to reject any offers, while the fact that Martinez has a contract until 2025 means they are under no pressure to sell the South American because his value is not about to depreciate.
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Lisandro Martinez to end Saliba’s Arsenal career?
Martinez would be a shrewd pick up for Arsenal because of his capacity to play both as a left-sided centre-back and as a left-back. This is important because of Kieran Tierney’s unreliability because of injury.
It does, however, raise questions over the long-term future of William Saliba at the club. Signed from Saint-Etienne in 2019, he has yet to make his first-team debut for the Gunners, despite arriving in a €30m transfer.
Indeed, the Frenchman has spent much of his time at the Gunners on loan in Ligue 1, including a season-long stint with Marseille that he has just returned from. OM are known to want the defender back after he performed strongly enough during his temporary stay to merit a France international call.
If Lisandro were to sign from Ajax, though, it could spell the end for Saliba at the Emirates Stadium, despite persistent protestations from Arteta that he is in his first-team plans.
