Man United worst fears confirmed with Lisandro Martinez injury update -Reports

Man United worst fears confirmed with Lisandro Martinez injury update -Reports

Lisandro Martinez could be out of action for nine months after he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury for Manchester United during Sunday’s defeat to Crystal Palace.

The centre-back was stretchered off in tears during the second half at Old Trafford, having fallen to the turf clutching his knee. Reports in Argentina have now confirmed the injury is as serious as first feared.

Martinez will miss the rest of the season and the usual recovery time for a cruciate injury is up to nine months. It is the second time the Argentine has suffered a knee injury at United, having missed a couple of months last season with a medial collateral ligament injury.

He has suffered rotten luck with injuries in the last couple of years, having twice injured a metatarsal in his foot. The 27-year-old has already missed more than 50 games through injury since the start of the 2022/23 season.

Speaking after Sunday’s game, United head coach Ruben Amorim confirmed that the injury looked serious and explained why Martinez’s presence would be missed.

“Licha is really important for us, not just as a football player, but as a character, especially in this hard moment, now it’s time to help Licha like he’s doing for so long,” he said.

“I think it’s a bad situation, let’s wait to assess things with the doctor but I think it’s a serious situation.”

United’s only other left-footed option at centre-back is Luke Shaw. The 29-year-old has recently returned to first-team training but hasn’t started for the club since February 18, and his return is being taken slowly after a series of injury issues