Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez was pictured with heavy strapping and ice on his foot in the latter stages of Thursday's Premier League clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The 25-year-old initially suffered a fractured metatarsal last April, which saw him miss the end of the 2022-23 campaign, but he was back for pre-season training ahead of the current season.
Martinez suffered with pain in the area in the early stages of 2023-24, though, and scans revealed that the initial operation had not been successful in fully repairing his bone, leading to more surgery in September.
The Argentina international made his return as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur on January 14, and he has since started against Newport County and Wolves.
Martinez was substituted in the latter stages of Thursday's game at Molineux, though, and he had heavy strapping and ice on the previously-injured area.
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The images have prompted claims that the centre-back suffered an injury, although it could have been a precautionary measure due to the nature of the problem that he has overcome.
Man United will now be sweating over his fitness for Sunday's Premier League clash with West Ham United at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils looking to build on the 4-3 success over Wolves.
The 20-time English champions led 2-0 and 3-1 on Thursday but needed a last-gasp Kobbie Mainoo effort to secure a vital three points.
"It is massive, the win. But this match has a lot of sides. But let's take first the positives. I think we played very good and dictated the game for an hour," Man United head coach Erik ten Hag told reporters.
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"We should go up 3-0 or 4-0 but we didn't and then in the end it is quite naive. The way we conceded goals shouldn't happen but then we showed resilience. Especially Kobbie Mainoo. It was a great goal.
"Mixed feelings, but in the end we are happy. Happy for long periods with the performance and the levels we achieved, but if you are dominating the game and you are leading 2-0 and 3-1, you can't allow to let the opponent to get back – that's naive and that's no good.
"We have to work on that but I'm very pleased with the levels we achieved in the first 60 minutes of the game."
Anthony Martial remains a long-term absentee for the Red Devils, having undergone a groin operation.
However, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount and Victor Lindelof are all making strong progress, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka could be back in the squad against West Ham after recently being sidelined due to a knock.
Matt Law
