‘Uncomfortable situation’ - Argentina manager gives injury update on Man Utd’s Lisandro Martinez

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has revealed Lisandro Martinez may not be involved in the upcoming match against Ecuador due to discomfort in his foot, but claimed the Manchester United defender is ‘available’ if required.

Martinez was replaced in the second half of Sunday’s Premier League loss to Arsenal, with Ten Hag explaining after the match that the 25-year-old was suffering from pain in his foot. “Licha said he has a problem on his foot but I’m not sure if it’s an injury and we have to see, we have to make the diagnosis,” the United said.

Martinez went immediately off to represent Argentina after the Arsenal match, and was seen training with his national side earlier this week. It was therefore hoped the ex-Ajax man had shaken off the issue, but Scanoli revealed on Wednesday that Martinez is still managing the issue.

“Licha, as you know, had an issue with his feet,” said the World Cup-winning manager. “By the way, he had surgery a while ago. In the last game he was in pain, went out for precaution.

“They have done studies and he’s well. He’ll be with us if we want to risk him or not. It’s an uncomfortable situation and we have other team-mates who can replace him well. It’s not necessary that we risk him. In any case, if he’s available, we’ll evaluate whether to use him or not. At first, for tomorrow’s match, it’d be a little rushed, we’ll see for the second match.”

As mentioned by Scaloni, Martinez underwent surgery at the end of last season after he suffered a broken metatarsal in a Europa League encounter against Sevilla. Ten Hag will hope the recurrence of a foot issue isn’t cause for long-term concern, especially with Raphael Varane currently out through injury.

United return to action after the international break with a home match against Brighton & Hove Albion on 16 September, followed by a trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

As for Argentina, they begin their 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the early hours of Friday morning, with a home game against Ecuador. That’s followed by a trip to Bolivia for the world champions.