Erik ten Hag insists Lisandro Martinez thrives when faced with challenges as he prepares to make his return for Manchester United. Martinez returned to Manchester at the start of the week following his role in Argentina’s World Cup win in Qatar but he was not selected in the squad for the win over Nottingham Forest, having travelled to Buenos Aires to celebrate in his homeland. The £55.3million centre-back has been arguably the standout player in United’s season so far and Forest was the first Premier League fixture he had not started in. Martinez has had multiple training sessions this week and could return to the starting line-up at Wolves for the lunchtime kick-off on New Year’s Eve.
Erik Ten Hag said: “It is good he arrived in Manchester. Is he sober? I think so, I’m sure he is! It is definitely a boost (winning the World Cup), he already is a player who is convinced of himself and has high belief. But also this experience will strengthen him even more and he has to bring it to the squad. I think Argentina played to win in contrast to many other nations who played not to lose. Also that mentality he showed several times at Manchester United: be proactive, that’s what I like. When it is difficult to stand up and when he can show that even more it can help us even more.”
Martinez, 24, was substituted at half-time in his second appearance for United with the team trailing 4-0 at Brentford but he has since excelled at centre half, primarily alongside Raphael Varane or Victor Lindelof.
Ten Hag initially targeted Martinez’s Ajax teammate Jurrien Timber but after he opted to stay in Amsterdam United moved for Martinez amid interest from Arsenal.
Erik Ten Hag said: “I didn’t have that doubt, that is why I brought him in, because I know there is high potential and if he works good then there is huge progress, there is huge space for improvement. Now he is returning from the World Cup it’s also another challenge because that experience is so emotional and now you have to manage that as a player, because opponents will be even tougher against him and it’s a good challenge. If you survive the challenge, you’re going to be a better player and that is the player Lisandro Martinez is: he likes challenges.”
Jadon Sancho has also returned to United’s Carrington training complex but is due to train separately from teammates. The 23-year-old has not played since October 22 and Sancho last month travelled to the Netherlands for an individual programme as he was not deemed fit enough to be involved in United’s training camp in Spain.
Erik Ten Hag said: “Yes, of course, there is coming a time but the time is not now. But he is making progress. We will see when he is ready to return to the squad. He is back in Manchester. He will start in individual training.”
Diogo Dalot is expected to be unavailable again for United at Wolves. The right-back is recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained in Portugal’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to Morocco three weeks ago.
