Lisandro Martinez immediately became a fan-favourite at Manchester United during his first season at the club, with the Argentine defender proving his doubters wrong.
The former Ajax star cemented his status as one of Europe’s best centre-backs as he helped end United’s six-year wait for silverware.
Martinez forged a seemingly unbreakable bond alongside Raphael Varane, with the two helping David de Gea win just his second Golden Glove prize in 12 years.
His campaign ended on a sour note, however. Martinez was withdrawn from the quarter-final game against Sevilla in the Europa League and initial fears were that he had sustained an injury to his Achilles tendon.
Thankfully, it quickly emerged that that was not the case but he had instead fractured a bone in his foot, which meant that his season was cut short by two months.
United crashed out of the Europa League the following week and would later succumb to defeat in the FA Cup final against Manchester City in the final game of the season – two games the Argentine was sorely missed in.
Speaking recently, ahead of his second season at the club, he has opened up on the untimely injury.
“I felt a thousand different emotions [that night]. I was carried off the pitch by two opponents, players from my country. My girlfriend was crying a lot in the dressing room. Me? I felt positive,” he told GQ, via the Manchester Evening News.
“I said to myself, ‘What can I do to control this situation?’ Yes, it was serious. But I thought, OK, this is a message. A message for me to be positive, to work, to recuperate and not just to return, but to return a much better player.
“And now I’m already a better player. Sometimes things happen for a reason. Football is very honest. We should have scored four goals against Sevilla, we didn’t. There’s a lesson there. We must learn and come back stronger. And I must do the same.”
