Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has hit back at Paul Scholes after the club legend criticised him, saying the ex-midfielder "wouldn't survive" in Argentina. Martinez has been ruled out for the rest of the season after it was confirmed the 27-year-old had suffered an anterior cruciate injury in his knee following United's 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace earlier this month. Before then, Martinez had been a near ever-present for the Red Devils but has been involved in some dismal team performances that have seen United fall to 13th in the Premier League table.
Scholes recently slammed Martinez when discussing United's lack of quality to win titles. He said the former Ajax defender was not at the level the club need to return to the glory days. Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, via Sky Bet, he said: "Even when he [Martínez] is fit, he’s not good enough to win the Premier League with.". Martinez was clearly filed up by Scholes' words as he fired back in a post on Instagram, replying: "This jinx guy is really hurting....You put him in Argentina, and he wouldn’t survive.".
Scholes is never afraid to speak his mind about United players and recently said he would include Martinez in eight players the club should sell - as well as Marcus Rashford, Matthijs de Ligt, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Casemiro, Antony and Joshua Zirkzee. Martinez - who arrived for £55m in 2022 - is not the only United defender who came under fire from Scholes. The 50-year-old also savaged De Ligt, calling him "a concern" while also critiquing Leny Yoro.
'His (De Ligt's) age (25) and his amount of clubs already concerns me. He was brilliant at Ajax, he seems to be getting worse as he gets older. Bayern Munich, Juventus, they've let him go for some reason. 'Where are your ambitions? I'm talking about getting a team to win the Premier League. Are you going to win the Premier League with De Ligt and Yoro as your centre halves? You (a fan) said you think they're quite good. Is quite good good enough?'.
"Look, [Yoro] is a young player, but I haven't liked what I've seen so far. Did you see the Southampton game? He's a young player, he's one centre half I would keep, when I talk about that spine and two centre halves.". Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
