Lisandro Martinez made his long-awaited return to the Manchester United team on Sunday in the Premier League win over Crystal Palace
Lisandro Martinez has delivered a heartfelt message following his long-awaited comeback for Manchester United. Martinez has been absent for most of the year while recovering from an ACL injury sustained back in February.
The defender picked up the injury during a Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace back in February, subsequently undergoing surgery which sidelined him for the rest of the 2024/25 season.
The Argentina international has steadily been rebuilding his fitness over recent weeks and was included among the substitutes for last week’s Premier League loss to Everton.
On Sunday, Martinez found himself on the bench once more under Ruben Amorim for the meeting with Palace, this time earning a brief outing during the dying moments at Selhurst Park, reports the Manchester Evening News.
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More than 24 hours following the final whistle in south east London, Martinez has shared a post with his 6.8 million Instagram followers to reflect on his United comeback.
“Long time not being able to do what I love most and what better way to return to the court [pitch] with a very important win,” wrote Martinez.
“They were months of suffering, uncertainty, anguish, imbalance… where the lack of energy was nothing to beat me, but I was lucky enough to count on my family, friends, teammates, fans, the club and the national team, to recharge the heart.
“Just thank you, everyone.”
Former United goalkeeper David de Gea among those responding to Martinez’s post in the comments. The shot-stopper, now plying his trade with Fiorentina in Serie A, posted ‘he’s back’ alongside a knife emoji – a nod to Martinez’s butcher nickname.
United teammate Joshua Zirkzee joined in with ‘welcome back’ accompanied by a red love heart in the comments, while Argentina teammate Rodrigo De Paul penned ‘we were waiting for you, beautiful butcher’.
United skipper Bruno Fernandes revealed his delight at having Martinez back in the matchday squad following the triumph over Palace.
“It’s very important to have him [Martinez] back, it’s such a long spell that he was out, even for himself, it’s great to be back with the team to have this feeling of playing games again,” Fernandes told MUTV.
“We know how much he struggled being out without being able to play for us. He’s back and one more option to have such big quality in the team, so we’re very happy with it.”
United’s upcoming fixture sees them welcome West Ham to Old Trafford for Thursday evening’s Premier League clash, where Martinez will be hoping for additional playing time as he works towards full match fitness following his extended absence.
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
