Lisandro Martinez has endured an injury-hit 18 months at Manchester United – but the Argentine is still making an impact in other ways.
Senior Sports Journalist who loves all things football, boxing, MMA, cricket, NBA and motorsports. Former FAWSL reporter for Whisper TV who has also previously written for the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Manchester Evening News and many more. Southampton Solent University graduate with a MA in Public Relations and Multimedia Communications and a BA Hons in Sports Journalism.
Man Utd star Lisandro Martinez has been injured since February.(Image: 2025 Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA)
Lisandro Martinez has demonstrated his leadership skills at Manchester United – despite not being able to get on the field of late.
Martinez, 27, has been doing everything he can to get over the knee injury he suffered during February’s defeat to Crystal Palace. The Argentine – who is affectionately known as ‘The Butcher’ by United fans – underwent surgery on his knee shortly after the Palace reverse.
While he has not been able to play, the World Cup winner has still been involving himself behind-the-scenes. He is keeping up to date with Ruben Amorim’s demands by attending team meetings and being a visible presence at the club’s Carrington training ground.
He even travelled with the club on the pre-season tour to the United States, where he carried on his rehabilitation programme while his teammates competed and trained.
This is something which may not be required of the ex-Ajax defender, who will have his own training and recovery programme dedicated to his injury. So the fact Martinez is still attending team meetings and ensuring he is a visible presence highlights his commitment to the club.
It also shows he will not need to get up to speed with things like tactics and strategies when he does return to the field. Amorim paid tribute to the versatile defender – who will surely become an important member of his first-team when he is available.
In his pre-match press conference, when asked about Martinez edging closer to a return, the Portuguese said: “It’s really important.
“When you have a serious injury, you have that time where you recover a lot of things really hard, then there is the boring part where it looks like you don’t go to the next step.
“We miss Licha a lot, especially in this moment, we miss his aggression in everything he does, we miss him. But he’s always there in every meeting. In training, he sometimes finishes his and stays to watch the training. We need Licha in this team.”
Martinez recently offered a sign he’s not too far away from returning to the pitch. He uploaded a video of himself jogging alongside United physiotherapist Ibrahim Kerem at United’s training ground.
This would have been received gratefully by United supporters – and his teammates – who have sorely missed his composure and bite in the defence. In the 16 games Martinez has played under Amorim, the Argentine has scored twice and assisted twice.
United have also won eight of those matches – nine if you class the penalty shootout victory in last year’s FA Cup match with Arsenal – and kept three clean sheets.
A return date is yet to be confirmed, but the sight of Martinez running suggests it may not be too far away. Either way, his impact is still abundantly clear.
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