Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez drove in together on Tuesday morning for their first training session as Manchester United players.
The pair are Erik ten Hag 's second and third signings as Red Devils boss respectively, having put pen to paper during United's pre-season training tour of Australia. With the rest of the squad now back home, midfielder Eriksen and defender Martinez rocked up at the club's Carrington training complex on Tuesday morning just after 11am ahead of their first training session under Ten Hag.
They arrived around 15 minutes after superstar teammate Cristiano Ronaldo drove in alongside agent Jorge Mendes for showdown talks to discuss his future at the club, followed by a certain Sir Alex Ferguson. Meanwhile, a number of other stars such as Bruno Fernandes, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial were seen arriving.
Images of the new additions preparing for training suggest that Martinez's £56.1million transfer from Ajax - where Ten Hag worked with him for three years and coached him into becoming one of Europe's most exciting centre-backs - is on the brink of being officially confirmed, having needed to complete a medical after it was announced that a fee had been agreed. On the other hand, Eriksen is officially a Red Devil, signing a three-year contract upon his departure from Brentford - and he too should be unveiled in the coming days.
The Dane rejected the offer of a new deal with the Bees in favour of joining United just 12 months after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a match at Euro 2020. Eriksen, 30, said upon his announcement: "Manchester United is a special club, and I cannot wait to get started. I have had the privilege of playing at Old Trafford many times but to do it in the red shirt of United will be an amazing feeling."
"I have seen Erik's work at Ajax and know the level of detail and preparation that he and his staff put into every day. It is clear that he is a fantastic coach.
"Having spoken with him and learned more about his vision and the way he wants the team to play, I am even more excited for the future. I still have major ambitions in the game, there is a huge amount that I know I can achieve, and this is the perfect place to continue my journey."
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Ten Hag waxed lyrical to the Red Devils' website when asked about the ex- Tottenham Hotspur playmaker, saying: "He's an experienced player.
"He plays in countries abroad, in Italy, in Holland, a long time in England, so he knows the Premier League. It's an absolute advantage that we have him in.
"I think he is a magnificent football player and I think the fans will enjoy watching him, because he's creative, he has ideas. I think especially our strikers will also be happy because he's the one who can involve them in the game."
On 24-year-old Martinez, the United manager added: "He's a warrior and I think the fans will admire him. He has an attitude, fighting spirit. He brings aggressiveness in the game, in a good way. I think we need that. But also, he's also skilful and he can deal with the ball and he's left-footed.
"I think the Premier League is high intensity, lots of challenges. We need such players [with fighting spirit]. Certain ideas, he knows them.
"That is an advantage, clearly. But also he has to adapt, to a new country, a new club, new teammates. So also a lot of things will be different."
