Lisandro Martinez has one year left on his United deal
In a sight all too familiar to Manchester United fans, Lisandro Martinez was visibly distraught as he left the field with an injury in the first half of Argentina’s World Cup final defeat to Spain.
United must now wait to discover the severity of the injury, but with their Premier League opener against newly-promoted Hull City less than five weeks away, Michael Carrick is facing the real possibility of being without one of his first-choice centre-backs on the opening day of the season.
Martinez has been a fan favourite since he stepped foot inside Old Trafford back in 2022, but he has spent far too much time on the sidelines. The 28-year-old has started just 65 Premier League games in his four years at United.
Now into the final year of his United deal, Martinez is effectively playing for his future at Old Trafford, and if he is to be sidelined for the opening stages of the season, his audition will get off to the worst possible start.
With Matthijs de Ligt recovering from surgery on a back problem picked up last year, United’s centre-back options are already looking stretched. As good a player as Martinez is, Carrick can’t afford to be without his best players for large chunks of the season, so should United be looking to offer a new deal to a player who is so injury-prone?
We want you to have your say on the Martinez conundrum. Is he too good to let go, even though he is unavailable so often? Or do United need to accept they simply cannot rely on the Argentina international and move him on?
Let us know what you think by voting in the poll below:
