Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has undergone successful surgery on a season-ending foot injury.
The Argentine World Cup winner suffered a fracture of the
fifth metatarsal in his right foot during last week’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla in
the Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie at Old Trafford.
United had an anxious wait to discover the severity of the
injury as manager Erik ten Hag held out hope that he could return before the
summer, though it quickly became clear that he would be in no position to play
again this term.
However, the club insisted that Martinez was expected to
make a full recovery and should be fully fit for the start of the 2023/24
campaign in August.
Now the 25-year-old will begin working towards that goal
having gone under the knife for a successful procedure on Monday.
Writing alongside a picture of himself smiling and giving
the thumbs up from a hospital bed, Martinez wrote on Instagram: “Everything
went really well, thanks to God! Many thanks for all of your messages. Now
focusing on the recovery.”
The loss of Martinez was compounded for United by fellow
first-choice defender Raphael Varane suffering his own foot injury against
Sevilla that is likely to keep him out for several weeks.
Both players being sidelined has led to Harry Maguire and
Victor Lindelof needing to step up, with the former recovering from a very
shaky opening 20 minutes against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on
Sunday.
Ten Hag is experiencing something of an injury crisis at
present, with Marcus Rashford having also been sidelined of late along with the
likes of Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay, Tom Heaton and Alejandro Garnacho, the
latter of whom is stepping up his recovery after posting a picture of himself
back with boots on yesterday.
Donny van de Beek and Phil Jones won’t play any part in the
final weeks as Carabao Cup holders United still compete on three fronts in the
League, FA Cup and Europa League, while Tyrell Malacia missed the win against
Forest with a sore knee and Marcel Sabitzer was a late scratch from the
starting lineup at the City Ground after hurting his groin during the warm-up.