It will soon be a year since Lisandro Martinez suffered the first of his many injuries in a
Manchester United shirt. The bulldog-like defender, who had lifted the
World Cup with
Argentina four months earlier, fractured his metatarsal so badly against Sevilla in a Europa League clash that opposing countrymen Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel carried him off the pitch. Martinez was then scooted down the tunnel on a stretcher, which in retrospect signalled the start of a long stretch of injury frustration. His subsequent operation forced him to miss the final 13 matches of the season, including the FA Cup final. READ MORE: United get double injury boost for
Chelsea READ MORE: United have got two major things wrong with their injury crises In an update on
Social Media on April 17, Martinez wrote: "Everything went really well, thanks to God! Many thanks for all of your messages. Now focusing on the recovery." That recovery appeared to go to plan, as the 26-year-old returned in time for pre-season, playing 316 minutes across five starts during the tour of the US and domestic friendlies. However, he would play just seven matches during the regular season before his foot issue flared up once again. "He has to be strong. He will fight back, I’m sure,” said Erik ten Hag upon the recurrence of his problem in September. Martinez required a second round of surgery and the club were careful not to rush him back. In November, during a visit to his homeland to watch former club Defensa y Justicia, Martinez encouraged fans to be “patient” with his recovery. Speaking to TNT Sports Argentina , he said: "I am in the process of recovery and happy to be here visiting the club. It is the second time that an injury like this has happened to me. So, you have to be patient." The centre-back worked closely with club physio Ibrahim Kerem with Ten Hag insisting that the player would not return until he felt “100 per cent ready”. He consequently missed the rest of 2023. He announced his readiness to return in an
Instagram post on January 4, writing: "Really happy to be back with the team. Let’s do this together!" Martinez has frequently been praised for his dogged determination and robust mentality, something which has been tested since that poignant night at Old Trafford last April. Since returning upon the turn of the new year, Martinez has sustained two more injuries. The first was rather freakish and unrelated to his metatarsal problems. Martinez was forced off after 71 minutes against West Ham when Vladimir Coufal clattered awkwardly on the defender’s knee. Martinez was injured again against West Ham (Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images.) In his post-match interviews with Sky and the
BBC, Erik ten Hag opened up about the latest set-back. "I can't tell the detail but it seems bad," he said. "We have to wait for the detail and making the right diagnosis in the coming days. We'll see what is going on. In this moment, we're very sad about this but, hopefully, it's not too bad. We can only pray. "We have to find out in the next days what is the diagnosis. It's very bad for him and very bad for the team. He's just returning and is a very important part for us. Last season, when he fell out, I felt our performances dropped a level. We have to avoid that because we have a good squad and centre-backs who can fill in. But he definitely brings spirit to the team, apart from his footballing abilities. "It's disappointing for the team and especially for Licha. It's so frustrating, he worked hard to return now for two games. It looks like he has to sit some games out injured again but let's stay positive at this moment. Hopefully, it's not too bad but we have to wait." Scans showed that Martinez had damaged his medial collateral ligament and was expected to be out for eight weeks. On February 5, he wrote in a post on Instagram: "I want to give a heartfelt thanks for the great support I’ve received and to reassure you that I’ll soon be back out there, and we’ll fight together. Always united!" After missing the Manchester derby defeat and the dramatic FA Cup win over
Liverpool , he returned in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brentford, slightly earlier than expected. However, the news landed on Tuesday that Martinez had suffered yet another issue. His fresh calf setback is due to keep him out of action for at least another month, having played just 11 times this season. So far, Martinez has missed 30 of his club’s 42 matches this season through injury, and 41 games out of the 104 United have played since his 2022 arrival - which equates to a missed match every 2.5 matches. Martinez now faces a race against time to be back before the end of the season. United have the chance of making the FA Cup final again on May 25, and so Martinez, then, may well get the chance to play the showpiece after missing out on last year’s edition. Get United transfer news and updates on WhatsApp! Our team of Manchester United experts are on top of all the goings-on at Old Trafford for this week and beyond, and you can get the latest team news, injury updates, reaction and analysis along with inside information to your phone by joining our new free
WhatsApp community . You can also join the 50,000 (and growing!) band of United fans who are following our WhatsApp Channel. Sign up to our community here , and join our WhatsApp channel here . -- We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice .