In the span of a few hours, Manchester United fans have received two interesting transfer updates regarding the club they love.
The first piece of news is in regards to the Red Devils' well-documented pursuit of Lisandro Martinez, the center-back who worked under Erik ten Hag at Ajax. The Argentine ace remains a Johan Cruijff ArenA player, but the new Old Trafford manager wishes to change that as the Premier League giants have been heavily pursuing the defender.
According to the Athletic, Manchester United have all but beaten Arsenal in the race for Lisandro and are now in talks with the Eredivisie champions to complete this deal, with the consensus being this move will be completed. Ajax weren't keen on selling but Martinez is said to be eager to move to the Premier League, hence the change in stance.
The 20-time English champions already had a previous bid rejected worth $40M guaranteed and an additional $5M in add-ons. Manchester United's deal for the Argentine could be worth $55M guaranteed, plus add-ons.
This will be a huge boost to Ten Hag as he looks to bring the technically-brilliant defender to the Theatre of Dreams as soon as possible. The transfer negotiations involving Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong continue to drag on but one new name has been linked with the English heavyweights.
That player is none other than Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic. While that name might not excite Manchester United fans, his stats might, as the 25-year-old forward has averaged just over a goal contribution every other game since moving from Austria to the Bundesliga in 2019 (22 goals and eight assists in 48 appearances).
According to Sky Sport Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, the Red Devils are eyeing Kalajdzic and 20-year-old RB Leipzig striker Brian Brobbey. Initially, Bayern Munich and Dortmund were thought to be in the race for Sasa, but Plettenberg has refuted those links.
News #Kalajdzic: He is a candidate for #MUFC next to Brobbey from Leipzig. Talks with the management from Kalajdzic have taken place but no personal meeting so far. Manchester United is very interesting for him. Bayern and Dortmund are not in. @SkySportDE @Sky_Marc
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) July 11, 2022
This report is an interesting one given the recent transfer saga involving Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar wishes to leave Old Trafford and has even informed the higher-ups of his desire, but the club have so far refused to entertain the idea of selling the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. Could we see a new no.9 leading the line in the upcoming season? Only time will tell.
