Edwin van der Sar has confirmed that Ajax wasted little time in rejecting Arsenal's summer bid for centre-back Lisandro Martinez before his eventual move to Manchester United.

The Argentine endured a tricky start to life in England but has enjoyed some excellent performances in recent weeks, living up to the expectations that came with his £56.7m move from Amsterdam during the summer.

Ajax had planned on keeping Martinez following the departure of manager Erik ten Hag to United, and Van der Sar has now confessed that a bid from Arsenal was rejected earlier in the window.

“It was our opinion they should stay for another year,” he told The Times of both Martinez and winger Antony, who eventually moved to United as well.

“We gave a firm ‘no’ to Arsenal when they came first for Lisandro; we fought hard to keep him.”