Lisandro Martinez made his return from injury during Manchester United’s win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League
21:48, 01 Dec 2025Updated 21:54, 01 Dec 2025
Lisandro Martinez made his return from injury for Manchester United on Sunday against Crystal Palace(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Lisandro Martinez has issued an emotional message after making his long-awaited return for Manchester United. Martinez has been sidelined for the majority of the year while he recovered from an ACL injury that he suffered back in February.
Martinez picked up the injury in a Premier League clash against Crystal Palace, and subsequently underwent surgery, which ruled the defender out for the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign.
The Argentina international has gradually been building up his fitness in recent weeks and was named on the bench for the Premier League defeat to Everton last week.
On Sunday, Martinez was named on the bench once again by Ruben Amorim for the clash against Palace, and this time a cameo appearance in the closing minutes at Selhurst Park.
More than 24 hours after the final whistle in south east London, Martinez has posted a message to his 6.8 million followers on Instagram to reflect on his return to action for United.
“Long time not being able to do what I love most and what better way to return to the court [pitch] with a very important win,” wrote Martinez.
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“They were months of suffering, uncertainty, anguish, imbalance… where the lack of energy was nothing to beat me, but I was lucky enough to count on my family, friends, teammates, fans, the club and the national team, to recharge the heart.
“Just thank you, everyone.”
Responses poured in with one of those coming from former United goalkeeper David de Gea. The stopper, now with Fiorentina, commented ‘he’s back’ with a knife emoji referencing Martinez’s butcher nickname.
Martinez’s United team-mate Joshua Zirkzee commented ‘welcome back’ with a red love heart while compatriot Rodrigo De Paul wrote ‘we were waiting for you, beautiful butcher’.
United captain Bruno Fernandes explained after the win over Palace why he was delighted to have Martinez back in the matchday squad.
Lisandro Martinez had been sidelined since February with a knee injury before making his Man United return(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
“It’s very important to have him [Martinez] back, it’s such a long spell that he was out, even for himself, it’s great to be back with the team to have this feeling of playing games again,” Fernandes told MUTV.
“We know how much he struggled being out without being able to play for us. He’s back and one more option to have such big quality in the team, so we’re very happy with it.”
United’s next match will see them host West Ham in the Premier League on Thursday night at Old Trafford, where Martinez will be hopeful of getting more minutes under his belt as he continues to get up to speed after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.