Tottenham defender Cristiano Romero has lavished praise on Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez, claiming he is one of the two “best” centre-halves in the English top flight.

Romero is an international teammate of Martinez’s, and he says he ranks him alongside Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk in his top two:

“Today, the best defender for me is Virgil van Dijk, always, and Lisandro Martinez from Manchester United,. For me, they are the best in the Premier League.”

Martinez certainly has made his mark in English football, after what was an inauspicious start in his first two matches against Brighton and Brentford.

Whether he deserves the sort of praise that Romero is dishing out, though, it remains to be seen. Other players, such as Manchester City’s Ruben Dias and Chelsea’s Thiago Silva may feel slightly hard done by that they have been overlooked, considering they are excellent centre-backs.

However, Romero has first-hand experience of playing alongside Martinez for Argentina so he will know better than most what he is capable of. We shall see how the £56.5m summer signing performs for United across the rest of the campaign.