Why did it take Man United so long to confirm Lisandro?

Erik ten Hag had it clear in his mind about who he wanted to reinforce the defence. Lisandro Martínez became Manchester United’s most expensive signing in the current transfer market, after the English club agreed to pay Ajax a 64 million euro fee for the 24-year-old, including variables. The agreement between both clubs was announced on 17 July but it wasn’t until 10 days later, on Wednesday 27 July that the player’s incorporation was confirmed. What used to be a relatively quick process took much longer this time - one of the reasons for the delay was the extra paperwork and bureaucracy, the unavoidable consequences of Brexit.

As the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union, the Argentine defender was forced to apply for a work visa. That meant that United couldn’t confirm the transfer until Lisandro’s visa had been accepted and processed, due to a “disclosure requirement” between Ajax and the Dutch stock market.

If Ajax had not been obliged to inform of the agreement, United would have delayed the announcement until the visa was obtained - 27 July. But, while the process was being resolved, and as the Diario AS found out, Lisandro was already hard at work at Carrington, just like another any player.