Speaking on the Talking Transfers Podcast, Graeme Bailey has been discussing the race to sign Lisandro Martinez amid reported interest from Arsenal and Tottenham.
The Argentine defender has been at the centre of a lot of speculation this summer with Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United all linked with the Ajax defender, and now, Bailey has something of an update to share about the centre-half.
According to the reporter, Martinez has informed Ajax of his desire to leave the club, stating that Arsenal have gone in for the Eredivisie star.
However, despite Arsenal’s interest, Bailey states that Spurs may have a trump card in this race due to Ajax’s ongoing interest in Steven Bergwijn.
What’s been said?
Bailey shared what he knows about Martinez.
“We did a piece on Friday. Arsenal have gone in for him, they like him a lot. There’s a lot of interest in this guy, but the big thing with him is that he wants to leave Ajax. We understand he’s told Ajax he wants to leave, he plays on the left side, he’s an outstanding player, he can cover a lot of positions, he can play centre-half, he can play left-back and he can play in the midfield,” Bailey said.
“Again, this may be a north London battle, because we’re hearing that Tottenham like this guy a lot and they do have a bit of a trump card possibly because Ajax really want Steven Bergwijn, so could that potentially offer him in exchange?”
Spurs’ advantage
Tottenham may not offer Bergwijn as a direct swap for Martinez. After all, how often do swap deals actually happen? But they could lower his asking price in order to get some leverage in their chase for the defender.
Swap deals are always rather complicated due to the complex nature of amortisation of fees and internal valuations of players, but some sort of compromise could be made that suits all parties here.
Spurs do have the trump card here with Bergwijn, and that may lead them to victory in this transfer tussle.
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