Liverpool and Aston Villa stars help with Lisandro Martinez injury recovery

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has credited Argentina teammates Alexis Mac Allister and Emiliano Martinez for lifting his spirits during the darkest phase of his rehabilitation from a cruciate-ligament rupture sustained in February 2025.

The centre-back, sidelined for roughly ten months after surgery, told TyC Sports that the unexpected visit from the Liverpool midfielder and Aston Villa goalkeeper accelerated both his morale and recovery.

“I needed everyone’s help; without them it wouldn’t have been easy,” Martinez said. “Dibu sent me a message: ‘I’m coming to your house.’ When he arrived he said, ‘Look, Mac Allister is coming too.’ It was a really nice moment.”

The trio, pillars of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph, have maintained a tight bond through national-team duty. Both Mac Allister and Martinez have been loosely connected to Old Trafford in recent transfer windows—Mac Allister’s father quickly dismissed speculation of a move from Liverpool, while United considered Emiliano Martinez on deadline day before ultimately signing Senne Lammens.

Martinez regained full fitness late last year and re-established himself in United’s back line, only to suffer a fresh setback in February that ruled him out of the Everton fixture and the subsequent defeat to Newcastle. Determined to finish the campaign strongly, the 27-year-old is now back in training and targeting a decisive run-in for Erik ten Hag’s side.