Manchester United suffered a major blow when Lisandro Martinez picked up a season-ending knee injury during the Premier League game against Crystal Palace earlier this month.
The injury came at the worst possible time for both the player and the club with United languishing perilously close to the relegation spots.
The Argentine was slowly regaining the form he had shown during his first season at the club, regularly stepping into midfield from the back and utilising his incredible passing range to break lines consistently.
And now, as relayed by Sport Witness, the Red Devils were offered the chance to sign a replacement for the World Cup winner on deadline day.
Licha’s replacement
Vélez Sarsfield president Fabián Berlanga revealed in a recent interview that he had offered United the chance to sign their 21-year-old highly-rated centre-back Valentín Gómez.
The Argentine is left-footed and has established himself as “one of the best and most promising young defenders in Argentine football”.
He had made 43 appearances last season, keeping 18 clean sheets during that time while also scoring once. Despite his relatively young age, he has already made 110 appearances for Vélez.
He was reportedly being eyed by the City Football Group (CFG) while Udinese had failed to sign him in the winter as well. As per Berlanga, the defender is also in the sights of the Argentina senior national team, which shows how talented he is.
And with the Argentine club in need of money after the Udinese move fell through, the president had offered the defender to the 20-time English league champions who ultimately turned them down after disagreements between Omar Berrada and Ruben Amorim.
United turned down the offer
“We gave him a very good contract for what Argentine football is. I have no doubt that he was going to be in the national team’s sights.
“Through someone I know, I asked Manchester United to find out if they wanted him because of Licha Martínez’s injury. It was divided between the CEO and the coach, and they said no. Velez are interested in selling him.”
Gómez reportedly has a £6.7 million release clause and it will be interesting to see if United return for him in the future given the timeline of Martinez’s return.
United have started scouring the South American market for hidden gems and Gómez certainly fits the bill. With CFG also sniffing around, INEOS could potentially do likewise by recruiting for one of their umbrella clubs — OGC Nice or FC Lausanne-Sport.
Feature image Rodrigo Valle via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
