Lisandro Martinez faces up to two more months out of action with damaged knee ligaments but won’t need surgery, it has emerged.
Martinez limped out of Sunday’s 3-0 win over West Ham, at Old Trafford with an injury to his right knee, after it buckled under the weight of Vladimír Coufal, as they tangled in the 66th minute.
The United defender tried to carry on for a few minutes but went down again in some distress and was immediately replaced by Raphael Varane.
Martinez had scans on Monday and initial reports in Argentina that he has damaged the collateral ligament in the knee but not his cruciate ligament have now been confirmed.
The 26-year-old player won’t require an operation but the damage will take between one-and-a-half to two months to heal.
That means Martinez may miss up to another nine games of a season blighted by an injury that has brought just 10 appearances since August.
Sunday was only the fourth game – and third start – of Martinez’s comeback from a four-month lay-off following a second operation on the broken foot he suffered in a Europa League tie against Sevilla last April.
His performances since returning against Tottenham in mid-January have reminded United fans what a key player he is for Erik ten Hag.
Faced with the prospect of losing the Argentine for another lengthy spell, the United manager said: ‘It doesn’t look good, so there’s a big concern.
'We have to wait for the diagnosis, then we can tell you more.
‘He is very sad, very disappointed. We are with him. It’s a personal disaster. He is just returning. He is very important to us.
'He brings spirit to the team, aside from his football ability. Hopefully, it is not too bad, we can only pray.
‘He worked so hard to return and now, after four games, it looks like he has to sit some games out again.’
