Martis offered deal after impressive Latics bow

Billy McKay

ATHLETIC have offered a contract to quick-footed winger Liandro Martis.

The former Feyenoord youth team player impressed as a second-half trialist against Preston, scoring a fine goal and showing off his pace and trickery down the left flank.

An impressed Stephen Robinson has wasted no time in putting a deal on the table. If the 20-year-old accepts the terms, then it would leave the Athletic manager only one piece of the jigsaw away from putting together the 24-man squad he stated he wants to assemble.

That would a remarkable state of play considering that two-and-a-half weeks ago, only five senior professionals were on duty for the first day of pre-season training.

BEST OPTION

Should Martis sign, it would leave Robinson only a striker light and a loan could be the best option of adding a similarly rapid front man.

As it stands, the club have made four loan signings: Connor Ripley, Cameron Burgess, Lee Erwin and Billy Mckay.

Clubs are permitted eight on the books at once, but only five can feature in a single match day squad.

There are no short-term loans from this season, meaning that once the transfer window shuts on August 31, Athletic would have to wait until January to add extra loan players.

Robinson and his coaching team are examining their options ahead of Saturday's friendly at AFC Fylde.

"We are keeping our powder dry for one more loan," Robinson told the Chronicle.

"We have been offered a lot of players and have a lot of good will from bigger clubs. Within the staff we have a lot of connections.

"We have to make sure it is the right one. We know which area we are looking at and which players we are looking at."

Athletic's manager believes his new-look squad is shaping up well. On the subject of the formation he will set up with come the opening league game ­- 3-5-2 has been employed from the start against Huddersfield and Preston, later changing to 4-4-2 in both ­- he regards the topic as relatively unimportant.

"From where we started 10 days ago, we have come a long way.

"We have tried to take the club into the modern football world really and we are doing that in a short space of time. We know we need another injection of pace up top and we are looking for that out wide as well.

"We have the makings of a decent squad.

"We need to put a structure into place where we know when to play and when not to.

"You need to win second balls and do what Preston did and be big and physical. If you go long you need to pick up those second balls and if you are going to play, you need to play as a team."