Man Utd fans can get excited about the return of Lisandro Martinez

Posted Sunday, June 25, 2023 by sportbible.com

Manchester United fans can look forward to seeing Lisandro Martinez back in action sooner rather than later after he updated them on his recovery from injury.

Rarely does a match go so wrong so quickly as United's draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter final did last season.

The Premier League side had led 2-0 against a side struggling in La Liga but conceded two late own goals to put the tie right back in the balance.

The end of the match was terminal for Erik ten Hag's chance at European success and they went on to lose the second leg 3-0.

Worse still for United were the serious injuries for Raphael Varane and Martinez, with the latter breaking down in tears and later ruled out for the rest of the season.

Now it at least looks like the Argentine defender will be back for the start of next season as he showed off his progress in a video, as you can see below.

At the time there was still a chance that Ten Hag's side might miss out on the top four but Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof slotted in nicely in central defence to get them over the line.

Varane also returned for the end of the campaign and had a very good afternoon against Erling Haaland in the FA Cup final, despite United going on to lose.

No doubt though they missed the brilliance of Martinez who struck up a brilliant partnership with the Frenchman in the early part of his first season in England.

He helped Argentina to World Cup success last December, meaning Ten Hag's first choice pair have both lifted the trophy in the past four years.

Martinez was carried off by Sevilla players.

When Martinez arrived from Ajax last summer there were many pundits in the English game who questioned his short stature and ability to cut it in the Premier League.

When United sunk to bottom of the table after two losses in their opening two games criticism piled in on Ten Hag's decision to bring him over from the Eredivisie.

However he ended up proving many of them wrong alongside Varane and Jamie Carragher was forced to apologise for his assessment of the player.

In fact even Graeme Souness admitted he had to hold his hands up and say that he'd got it wrong when assuming 'Licha' would struggle.