Following a recurrence of the injury that ended his first season at Manchester United, Lisandro Martinez will undergo surgery once more

Martinez, a £47 million summer 2022 acquisition from Ajax, hobbled out of the Europa League match against Sevilla in April due to a fractured metatarsal. In an attempt to be ready for the 2023–24 season, he made his way back to Carrington early in the preseason, but he collapsed once more in the September loss to Arsenal.

Although he didn’t play in Argentina’s two matches that month, he continued to report for international duty, and his participation for United in the team’s defeats against Brighton and Bayern Munich allayed concerns about a potential long-term issue. Since then, though, rumors have surfaced that he took painkillers to appear in both games.

Furthermore, the Daily Mail claims that the 25-year-old had depressing test results on Thursday. Martinez now needs to miss three months of time and have a second procedure because specialists have confirmed that the fracture has not healed properly.

It’s the most recent major setback for Erik ten Hag, who is already dealing with his team’s bad play after losing four of their opening seven Premier League games—the worst start the club has had in the league since 1989–1990. The Dutchman’s team is currently disjointed due to several injuries and Jadon Sancho’s continuing suspension.

Ten Hag was queried about the center back’s health prior to Saturday’s latest disaster, a 1-0 home loss to Crystal Palace. He answered, “We performed an accurate diagnosis in Argentina as well, but it has since been determined that there was an issue.

“That’s really unfortunate for him and the team, as he wasn’t fully fit. I believe there was a significant change between Licha Martinez from our first season here and Martinez from the final several games.”

Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane all made a comeback from their own injury layoffs last week, while Luke Shaw is still out. When he returns in 2024, Ten Hag further maintained that the World Cup winner will help his squad: “He will add to the team, a really strong contributor to our levels and if already one player drops a level, the team performance will be lower.”

Martinez played for the team in 45 games across all competitions last season, recording one goal. He also got the start in United’s 2-0 victory over Newcastle at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final in February.