Lisandro Martinez has said sorry, Manchester United have fined him, and the club insist the matter is closed. What nobody at Old Trafford has settled is whether he will still be there next season.
The apology
After Tuesday's Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid, Martinez said the club had left head coach Michael Carrick with an under-equipped squad and that he expected more from technical director Jason Wilcox. On Thursday he met the club's leadership and the manager, then posted a statement. He described the talks as positive and open, said he lives football with great intensity, and admitted the frustration of the defeat led him to speak at a time and place that were perhaps not right. For that, he wrote, he wanted to apologise.
He added that the club is at its best when everyone is united and that his words did not help with that. It is understood he has been formally punished with a fine. An earlier statement from him had explained the comments without apologising, and this one went further.
A fixture with Leeds and a squad in trouble
The timing is awkward. Carrick holds his news conference on Friday, ahead of the trip to Elland Road on Sunday, and it remains to be seen whether he picks Martinez. United arrive there with just two wins from nine games this season and sit 13th in the Premier League with six points from six league matches. Roy Keane, speaking on The Overlap, called the situation at his old club a bit of a circus, which did not make the week any easier for the dressing room.
What happens to his contract
The apology may close the discipline issue, but not the contract one. Martinez is 28 and his deal runs out at the end of the season. United hold an option to extend it by 12 months and have not decided whether to use it. There is understood to be significant doubt over his long-term future at Old Trafford, and the public row has not helped his case. For now he is a United player who has apologised, paid a fine and must wait to see whether the manager still wants him in the team.
Transfer context: Lisandro Martinez, 28, Argentina defender, Manchester United. Contract expires end of the 2026-27 season; the club hold a 12-month extension option. United next play Leeds United away on Sunday 18 October 2026.
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