Arsenal Submit An Increased Bid For Lisandro Martinez.

Arsenal has reportedly raised their bid to €40 million for Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez including bonuses.

Last week, the Arsenal made obvious that they were interested in signing the Argentina international, and this week, they formally offered to sign the 24-year-old. After failing to sign Martinez's teammate Jurrien Timber, that may prompt Manchester United to join the hunt for Martinez.

The Netherlands international was advised against making the move by Holland coach and former Old Trafford manager Louis van Gaal. 

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New United manager Erik ten Hag had made central defender Timber his top defensive target. Timber followed van Gaal's counsel and concluded a move to United was too risky at this point in his career, especially with the World Cup less than six months away.

Ten Hag and United then turned their focus to Martinez, who played frequently for the recently appointed Old Trafford coach.

However, Arsenal is ahead of United in the race to recruit Martinez, and the Gunners are confident that Dutch champions Ajax would accept their offer.

United hasn't added any players so far this summer; on Monday, the first set of players reported for preseason practice. Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic, and Edinson Cavani were the five seasoned first-team players that left United, putting tremendous pressure on the team to add more players.

Frenkie De Jong, another former Ajax midfielder, is on the verge of being acquired by United for £68 million from Barcelona. The likely structure of the deal is £50 million up front plus £18 million in add-ons.

Fans of Man United are growing more and more dissatisfied with their team's lack of action in the transfer market as their competitors, such as Manchester City and Liverpool, both have strengthened with new additions.