Manchester United are experiencing plenty of injury problems at the moment, and a new update has emerged regarding Lisandro Martinez.
Is Lisandro Martinez injured?
The Red Devils finished third in the Premier League last season, making it into the Champions League, as Erik ten Hag did an impressive job as manager. Much was expected going into the current campaign, especially with the likes of Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund all added to the squad, but things haven't gone to plan to date.
On Saturday afternoon, United suffered a damaging 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, meaning they have lost four of their opening seven matches in the league in 2023/24 to date – their worst start in the league for 34 years. With each passing week, more question marks are being raised against Ten Hag and the job he is doing, with improvements needed as soon as possible.
In fairness to the manager, however, the Reds have been unfortunate with injuries so far this season, with the likes of Martinez, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all out for chunks of action, among others. The former could be out for a significant period after suffering a foot injury, with a potential two or three-month absence mooted in recent reports. Now, a fresh update has emerged regarding the Argentine's fitness.
What's the latest on Lisandro Martinez's injury?
According to Sky Sports, Martinez could now need additional surgery after aggravating the issue, having already undergone it once this year, following an absence during the latter stages of last season:
"Lisandro Martinez may need further surgery to finally get over his debilitating foot injury The Manchester United and Argentina centre-back has aggravated a metatarsal problem, after needing surgery on the bone in April.
"The club said he played with the injury in the defeats against Brighton and Bayern Munich after the setback occurred in the loss at Arsenal on September 3. United medical staff are still assessing how best for him to recover and discussing whether a second operation might be the best course of action. It means Martinez could be out until December, in the latest injury setback for the club."
Martinez has been such an impressive signing by United since joining from Ajax last summer, becoming a real leader at the heart of the defence, and playing a key role in last season's aforementioned third-place finish, being called "outstanding" by Wes Brown.
That being said, the 25-year-old was still restricted to only 24 Premier League starts due to fitness issues, and his second year in a Reds shirt feels as though it could be even more hampered. Ten Hag will be ruing the loss of arguably his most reliable centre-back, especially considering Raphael Varane is an injury-prone player, and surgery could mean that Martinez doesn't feature again this year.
The likes of Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire are really going to have to stand tall, as will the re-signed Jonny Evans, or United could easily find themselves languishing even further behind some of their rivals in the top-four battle.