Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.
The Argentina international was stretchered off from the field of play late on in a 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday, and looked in severe distress.
Martinez had tangled with Palace winger Ismaila Sarr, before his knee appeared to jolt quickly in one direction with his foot still planted, causing the nasty-looking injury.
Receiving treatment on the pitch for over five minutes, Martinez was then stretchered off, putting an even further dampener on a dismal afternoon for the Red Devils, who suffered a fifth home league defeat in seven games under Ruben Amorim.
© Imago
Yet another setback for Martinez
This is another injury in a long list of serious setbacks for Martinez since he joined from Ajax in 2022.
The defender fractured his metatarsal against Sevilla in April 2023 and was not seen again until the following campaign, where he suffered more notable injuries.
A foot injury kept him out for another four months at the end of 2023, before shortly after returning, he injured a ligament in his knee, and only returned for the FA Cup final win over Manchester City.
There were fears that Martinez could miss a hefty chunk of this season too, when he sustained a hip injury shortly before the November international break, and had to return to Carrington immediately after setting off to join up with the Argentina squad.
However, those fears were eased when Martinez missed just one league encounter, starting all but one of their Premier League games since.
© Imago
Will Man United enter the market for another defender?
Martinez's injury opens the door for a possible arrival at Old Trafford, with the Argentine's season now over.
However, with just hours left in the window, that appears unlikely at this stage, especially considering Patrick Dorgu has arrived from Lecce this week already.
Signing a natural left-sided defender allows Amorim more flexibility at the back, and more opportunities to move players around to deal with injuries.
Jonny Evans remains out injured, and Victor Lindelof has played very little football this season, but with Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro available, there may not be much panic just yet.
Noussair Mazraoui has also filled in as a right-sided centre-back on occasion this season, and Diogo Dalot could now move to right wing-back following Dorgu's arrival at the club, and Amorim will hope Luke Shaw can also recover from his nightmare injury to play some part during the rest of the season.
Andrew Delaney
