CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that he expects Arsenal to make another bid for Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez this summer and are the front runners to secure his signature.
Arsenal has already done incredible work in the summer transfer window, picking up Fabio Vieira from Porto and Gabriel Jesus from Premier League rivals Manchester City, and now look set to make another bid for Martinez.
According to Jacobs, who appeared on the Done Deal show, he believes the North London outfit is at the front of the queue for the player but could end up spending over their initial target of £40m to secure his services.
He said, “My understanding on this deal is that Arsenal are still very much the front runners. I think they’re going to have to actually end up paying in excess of £40 million, probably somewhere more like mid-40s and add-ons on top of that as well.
“This will not be a cheap deal… the last update I got from Arsenal was that they’re working on it, they’re confident, they’re hoping to table another offer and that they believe they will reach an agreement to at least get that deal to the point of them being able to talk to the player.” (34:22)
TIF Thoughts on Martinez to Arsenal…
Martinez was a key figure in Ajax’s Eredivise win last season as he managed one goal and three assists from the centre-back position while averaging an impressive two tackles, 1.9 interceptions, 2.8 clearances, 1.6 shots, 0.7 key passes, and 5.4 long balls with 88.9% passing accuracy on 81.8 average passes per game. (Whoscored)
Edu and Mikel Arteta are moving hard and fast in the transfer market so far so it would not be surprising if they wrapped this deal up over the next few weeks and added an exciting, young defender to their ranks.
With other teams like City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all improving their squads so far this summer, it is smart for the Gunners to do the same thing and put themselves firmly in the race for the top four once again.
Will Arsenal sign Martinez?No
Yes
|