What next for Lisandro Martinez at Man United? Micky van de Ven links, frustration and contract stance

When Manchester United went to Ireland for a training camp last month, there was a noticeable uptick in the intensity of their training sessions at the plush Carton House complex.

After some players had returned from internationals and others from an extended break, it was the first time the squad had been back together for a couple of weeks.

But there was another reason United's staff felt the standards and aggression in training had risen: the sight of Lisandro Martinez back on the grass. The Argentine had missed nearly two months with a calf injury, but, as usual, when he returned to training, he threw himself into the sessions.

Click here to find out the latest Manchester United news in our daily newsletter

Martinez is a real tone-setter at United. Numerous Carrington insiders have reported over the previous four years how standards in training rise when he is available. He brings an intensity, aggression and competitiveness to the training ground that forces teammates to go with him, and he isn't afraid to call others out when he feels they aren't doing so.

But the 28-year-old is now arguably at a crossroads in his Old Trafford career. Nothing summed up Martinez's struggle to build any momentum at the moment more than the red card he picked up against Leeds on his return to action from that calf injury. A minor pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair earned him not only a dismissal but also a three-match ban, meaning he has now played just once since February 10.

Martinez then watched on as similar incidents in the Premier League went unpunished, only adding to his and United's frustration, and an appeal against his three-match ban was dismissed by the Football Association.

With suspension served, he is in line for a recall against Sunderland this weekend and an 11th start of the Premier League season. When Martinez is in the team, he makes United a better footballing side, a viewpoint shared by United's current coaches and by Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim.

His weight of pass is consistently excellent, and he allows the team to play through the lines more easily, while his one-on-one defending can allow others to push up.

The problem has been getting him in the team. There were 20 league starts last season, eight the year before and 24 in his first season at Old Trafford. But the question of whether Martinez has become injury-prone or just exceptionally unlucky isn't easy to answer.

A problematic metatarsal fracture kept him out for large chunks of 2023, and a cruciate knee ligament problem saw him miss nine months of action in 2025, suggesting his issues have been more serious ones rather than a cascade of muscle problems.

There is a view within United that setbacks of this kind come with the territory. Martinez is an aggressive, front-foot defender who commits wholeheartedly to tackles. Take that away, and he might be available more often, but will he be the same presence on the pitch?

A source close to Martinez said the injuries had come at frustrating times for him, because the lengthy lay-offs occurred when he was playing well and felt an important part of the team. The centre-back feels he has become mentally stronger and more mature due to those experiences, while becoming a dad for the first time in March 2025, during the early weeks of his rehabilitation from a knee injury, gave him a different perspective and a sense of balance.

People close to Martinez believe he has become even more driven since those injury lay-offs. He is aware that part of his career has slipped by and is now determined to make up for lost time.

He believes he has come out of his knee injury stronger and fitter than ever before, a point he is determined to prove. Martinez's action might again have been limited this season, but he was a key part of the team in the early weeks of Carrick's reign, and his personality and leadership are appreciated by the 44-year-old and his staff.

Those are the attributes that helped him secure a move to Old Trafford in the first place. Ten Hag had identified a lack of those traits in his squad ahead of his first summer window, and in signing Martinez, Casemiro and Antony, he hoped to spark a culture change.

By the end of this summer, Martinez will almost certainly be the last man standing from that window. Casemiro and Tyrell Malacia will leave on free transfers, and Christian Eriksen and Antony have already gone.

The question is: how much longer will Martinez be around? He will soon be entering the final year of his contract, although United have an option to extend it by a year. As things stand, activating that one-year extension is the most likely course of action.

Under the Ineos regime, United want to get their best-paid players on the pitch, and it hasn't gone unnoticed that Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt, two centre-backs who should be in their prime, have struggled through injuries this season.

The club are monitoring the centre-back market, despite Harry Maguire signing a one-year contract extension, and they have been linked with a left-footer in Tottenham's Micky van de Ven, although there is a feeling he is more likely to sign for Liverpool.

Martinez is understood to be comfortable with his contract situation and is concentrating on finishing the season strongly rather than what might come next. He has told people how much he loves playing for the club and he sees his own future as being at Old Trafford.

With injuries hopefully behind him and his suspension served, the combative Argentine can prove he remains as vital as ever to how United play, and to how they train.

Click here to read article