Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez latest move shows how the club are backing Erik Ten Hag
Manchester United have been known in the past for not supporting their managers in the transfer market, but that seems to have changed under Erik ten Hag.
Granted, that’s also likely due to the whole changes in the club’s background, but it’s good to see Ten Hag’s goals are properly targeted.
The likes of Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal have previously claimed their favorite picks aren’t often taken for granted at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag, however, is the first manager to work under the new regime led by director of football John Murtough.
It hasn’t been hard to see that United’s goals so far this summer have been linked to the Dutch manager.
More recently, a report Manchester Evening News’ Samuel Luckhurst says the club have moved away from their primary focus at centre-back to focus on Ten Hag’s preference for Martinez.
Pau Torres was the scouting service’s choice as a left-footed centre-back to bring to Old Trafford.
However, Ten Hag didn’t want to prioritize the Villarreal defender, and instead United backed the Dutch manager in his pursuit of Lisandro Martinez.
The club recently offered €50m for the Ajax player and are confident it will be accepted.
One of the positives of these former Ten Hag players joining the team is that they should be able to fit easily into the style of game he wants to play. Martinez played a key role under him in Amsterdam last season.
This would help integration across the whole team.
You’d expect there to be a more balanced transfer policy in future transfer windows, but with the restructuring behind the scenes, it makes sense to trust Ten Hag’s goals.
It is also positive that these players are being targeted in needed positions at Old Trafford, however, a pure defensive midfielder is still missing.
Some believe Martinez could fill the position due to the lack of top quality midfield players in the market.
Although there is an argument that United are paying too much for unproven talent in the Premier League, complete faith must be in the manager during this transition period.
It’s no secret that United’s scouting department needs improvement, and they could do much worse than follow Ten Hag’s wishes while these changes are made.
