Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez expected to miss around eight weeks with

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez will not need surgery on the right knee injury he sustained against West Ham United on Sunday but is expected to be out for around eight weeks.

Martinez, 26, sprained a medial collateral ligament in the knee — from which recovery times can vary — during a collision with West Ham’s Vladimir Coufal in the 68th minute of the match, which is seen as a best-case outcome given there had been fears that the Argentinian had suffered anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage.

A United statement read: “Lisandro Martinez has sustained an injury to the medial collateral ligament in his knee and is expected to be out of action for at least 8 weeks.

“We all wish Licha a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the pitch later in the season.”

“I can’t say but it doesn’t look good,” United manager Erik ten Hag said after the 3-0 win over West Ham. “There is a bad concern. We have to wait for a few days for the diagnosis. We do everything to get the right diagnosis and see what is the damage.

“He is very sad, very disappointed. We all feel really with him. First of all, it is a personal disaster when it is really bad but also for the team it is really bad because he definitely brings us a lot.”

Martinez had only made his return after missing more than three months recovering from surgery on a broken metatarsal in his foot. That was his second surgery on the issue, having previously undergone a procedure in April that ended his debut season at United.

The Argentinian moved to United from Ajax for £47million (now $58.9m) in the summer of 2022, rejoining Erik ten Hag who had coached him at the Dutch club.

Martinez played 45 times in all competitions for United last season, missing the final nine Premier League games with that foot injury. He has only featured on 10 occasions for United this term, though, with the West Ham match only his seventh league start of the campaign.

How big a blow will Martinez’s absence be?

Martinez was beginning to hit his stride again after his time out, reminding fans of the potential of this United team with him in it, so another enforced absence is cruel timing.

Ten Hag has managed his return carefully — initially reintroducing him as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur then taking him off as a precaution at Newport and Wolverhampton Wanderers — with Martinez showing more fitness on each occasion.

At Molineux and against West Ham, Martinez showed what he can do on the ball, playing passes that transform United’s build-up play.

He is also seen as a leader of the side, constantly communicating with team-mates and trying to organise.

Martinez’s freak fall with Coufal means Ten Hag will have to adjust his approach again.

United will be thankful this new problem is not more serious, with some initial fears of ACL damage….