Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez labelled best defender in the Premier League by Rio Ferdinand who lauds Erik ten Hag for tactics in not letting World Cup winner get ‘exposed’

Lisandro Martinez has been labelled the best Premier League defender on form by Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand.

The Red Devils centre-back has been a key player for the club since arriving from Ajax in deal worth an initial £46million last summer.

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World Cup winner Martinez has featured in 30 games in all competitions - helping his side to third in the table.

The 25-year-old has already been lauded by United icon Roy Keane who praised his defensive qualities following last week's Carabao Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest.

And he has another fan in Ferdinand, who waxed lyrical over Martinez after his man of the match display in Saturday's 2-1 win against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand was asked if Martinez is the best defender in the division.

To which he said: "On form right now, I don't think there's really much argument coming from anywhere else.

"I think he's dominant, he's aggressive, he's a leader, he communicates well, he shows character, he's there in big moments."

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Much was said about whether Martinez would be able to cope with the physicality of the Premier League due to his .

And Ferdinand revealed he was one of those doubters, but has quickly been proven wrong.

He continued: "'I was one of the ones questioning, 'Is he physically able to compete here if teams isolate him?'

"And that's where Erik ten Hag has been confident in tactically being able to keep teams away from being able to dominate enough possession to isolate someone like Martinez.

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"And, up till now, he hasn't been exposed in that sense, on a regular basis, week after week.

"Are we not sitting there going, 'That's a recurring problem, there. It continues to happen, someone's pulling out on him and jumping over him or bullying him physically.'

"We haven't seen that, that hasn't become the narrative, and you have to say well done to him but also well done to the recruitment up to now."