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12 hours ago
4 Ruben Amorim has been dealt an early blow in his Manchester United tenure, having only officially arrived at Carrington to get to work on Monday.
Indeed, the new head coach will have to navigate the absence of one of the side’s most integral starters of the last two seasons: Lisandro Martinez.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that the centre-half had withdrawn from international duty with Argentina due to a ‘knock’ he sustained before jetting off to his homeland. Then, on an interrupted journey due to travel disturbance, his pain is said to have ‘increased’, prompting him to almost immediately board a return flight to Manchester.
United’s medical staff were unable to thoroughly assess Martinez before his departure and have now scheduled to do so in the coming days to determine the extent of what’s been labelled a ‘significant hip injury’. The issue initially flared up during the Reds’ 3-0 win over Leicester City last Sunday, during which he played the full 90 minutes.
Martinez set to be ruled out of Ipswich Town trip
(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Now, it’s looking highly unlikely that Martinez will partake in the first training sessions led by Amorim, meaning the coach must make plans to face Ipswich Town that exclude the trusty defender.
It will also undoubtedly come as a red flag to the United faithful, given that the player’s fitness record now leaves a lot to be desired. He missed a total of 38 matches in his sophomore campaign at Old Trafford, and his absence proved detrimental to the team; their win rate with him on the pitch (65 per cent) dropped to a dismal 54 per cent when he was unavailable after they recorded only 27 wins in 50 games (per StatmanDave).
You can’t help but question whether Martinez is now becoming too injury-prone to rely on for the duration of a season.
Alas, Amorim will have the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof to rely on, with summer signing Leny Yoro also expected to be available after the break.
