Erik Ten Hag must probably be the happiest man now as Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez flew to the United States this week to join up with Argentina’s national team.
Martinez didn’t travel to feature in either of Argentina’s friendlies against El Salvador or Costa Rica, he merely flew out to be around his international teammates.
He is still recovering from an injury suffered to the medial collateral ligament in his knee and the timeline for his rehabilitation was expected to be at least eight weeks, which earmarked the end of March as the potential date for his return.
After suffering from an aggravated metatarsal problem, which ruled him out for three months, Martinez returned from the sidelines against Tottenham on January 14 and showed why he’d been sorely missed when starting against Newport County, Wolves and West Ham.
The worst was feared when Martinez went down to the ground holding his knee against West Ham at the beginning of last month, but thankfully he didn’t require surgery.
That’s why it was so concerning to see him pick up a problem against West Ham – he’d only been back for a few games. Martinez is arguably Erik ten Hag’s most important player and his return will be warmly welcomed as the business end of the season approaches.
Martinez’s passing is outstanding for a defender – he could be effective in midfield – and he plays a significant role in build-up play, especially as a left-footed player.
He is the only naturally left-footed centre-back available and Ten Hag made signing him from Ajax a priority in his first summer because of that; it’s key to how he wants to play.
Ten Hag has regularly spoken about the ‘passing angles’ that Martinez and Luke Shaw create as left-footed players and both of those players’ respective absences have been significant.
