Lisandro Martínez (born 18 January 1998) is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays primarily as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and the Argentina national team. Martínez is nicknamed "the Butcher" due to his aggressive style of play. Martínez began his career at

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

before joining

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

in 2017, initially on loan. He signed for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in 2019, where he made 120 appearances over three seasons and won two

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

titles and one

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

. He won the Ajax Player of the Year award in the 2021–22 season. Martínez represented Argentina at under-20 and under-23 levels, before making his senior international debut in March 2019. He was a member of the Argentina squads that won the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football, football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to ...

, the

2022 Finalissima The 2022 Finalissima (; ) was the third edition of the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, an intercontinental football match between the winners of the previous South American and European championships. The match featured Italy, winners of UEF ...

, the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

Club career

Newell's Old Boys

Born in Gualeguay,

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a Center Region, Argentina, central provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires (so ...

, Martínez had youth spells with Club Urquiza (Gualeguay, Entre Rios), Club Libertad (Gualeguay, Entre Rios) and

. He made his professional debut for Newell's in the club's final fixture of the 2016–17 season, when he played the full match in a loss to Godoy Cruz.

Defensa y Justicia

In August 2017, Martínez joined fellow

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

side

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

on loan. His first appearance for Defensa arrived on 13 October in a defeat against

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

. Two appearances later, he scored his first senior goal in an away win versus

Temperley Temperley may refer to: * Temperley, Argentina, a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, that forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires metro area. * Temperley (surname) * Club Atlético Temperley, Temperley, Buenos Aires, Argentina; a sport ...

. Defensa y Justicia purchased 50% of the rights to Martínez in June 2018.

Ajax

On 17 May 2019, Defensa y Justicia announced that a deal had been agreed with

team

; subject to the passing of a medical. Ajax paid the Argentine side €7m for the transfer of Martínez. Ajax announced the completion of the medical on 20 May, with the transfer to go through on 1 July. He penned a four-year contract, with the option of a further year. He didn't officially join until July, though did feature in June friendlies with

Quick '20 Quick '20 (short for Katholieke Voetbal Vereniging Quick 1920, Eng.: Catholic Football Club Quick 1920) is a football club from Oldenzaal Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in t ...

and

AaB AAB, AaB or Aab may refer to: Aviation * Abelag Aviation in Belgium * Air Assault Badge, a United States Army military badge * Anti-aircraft battery, a weapons system component for anti-aircraft warfare * IATA airport code for Arrabury Airport ...

. Before Ajax signed him, they tracked his progress for two and a half years. His competitive bow came in the

2019 Johan Cruyff Shield The 2019 Johan Cruyff Shield was the 24th edition of the Johan Cruyff Shield (), an annual Dutch football match played between the winners of the previous season's Eredivisie and KNVB Cup. The match was contested by Ajax, as both the 2018–19 Ere ...

against

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, as Ajax won the trophy following a two-goal victory. He was voted

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in his second Eredivisie game, a win over Emmen. Martínez netted his first Ajax goal on 28 September, as he opened the scoring in a 2–0 victory over

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

at the

Johan Cruyff Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost equivalent to € ...

. He scored again against

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

in November, in a campaign which was ended prematurely due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In his first match of

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, Martínez got his third Ajax goal in a home win versus

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

on 20 September.

Manchester United

On 16 July 2022, it was announced that

had agreed a deal with Ajax for the signing of Martínez for a reported transfer fee between £47 million to £49 million, plus £8.5 million in add-ons. The transfer was officially completed on 27 July, when Martínez signed a five-year contract with the club. The next day, it was confirmed that he would wear the number six shirt last worn by

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who is a free agent. He primarily plays as a central midfielder. Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Pogba joined the youth team of Ligue 2 side Le Havre in 2007. He joined Ma ...

. On 7 August, Martínez made his club debut in a 2–1 home loss against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in the Premier League. However, after performances against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, he received the Manchester United Player of the Month award for August. On 22 January 2023, Martínez scored his first goal for Manchester United in a 3–2 defeat against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

. His first trophy with the club came on 26 February, with a win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in the

2023 EFL Cup final The 2023 EFL Cup final was the final of the 2022–23 EFL Cup. It was played between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium in London on 26 February 2023. This was Newcastle's first final since the 1999 FA Cup final, in which ...

. On 13 April, Martínez injured his right foot while playing in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. The following day, it was confirmed that he fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot and would miss the remainder of the season. On 29 September, Martínez reinjured his foot, and was sidelined for four months, returning on 14 January 2024 as a substitute in Manchester United's 2–2 draw against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. On 4 February, in a match against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, he was substituted in the 71st minute after a collision with West Ham defender

Vladimír Coufal Vladimír Coufal (; born 22 August 1992) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a right-back most recently for club West Ham United and for the Czech Republic national team. He has previously played for Bílovec, Hlučín, Opava, Slo ...

. It was then confirmed that he had sustained an MCL injury, and was expected to be out for at least eight weeks. He returned on 25 May in the 2024 FA Cup final against local rivals

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, where United triumphed with a 2–1 victory. On 5 January 2025, Martínez scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw against

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. He became the first Manchester United player to score at their

' ground since

Jesse Lingard Jesse Ellis Lingard (born 15 December 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for and captains K League 1 club FC Seoul. He has won the UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, and FA Community Sh ...

in 2018, ending a drought of five league visits to Anfield without a goal. On 26 January, Martínez's deflected shot handed United a 1–0 victory over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

. A week later, on 2 February, he sustained an ACL injury during a match against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, which would sideline him for the rest of the season.

International career

Martínez won four caps for the Argentina under-20 team at the

2017 South American Youth Football Championship The 2017 South American Youth Football Championship (, ) was the 28th edition of the South American Youth Football Championship, a football competition for the under-20 national teams in South America organized by CONMEBOL. It was held in Ecuador f ...

in Ecuador. The first came during the first stage against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, while the other three arrived during the final stage as Argentina finished fourth place and subsequently qualified for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

in South Korea. He received a call-up for the U-20 World Cup but failed to make an appearance, appearing on the substitutes bench once against

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. Martínez made one appearance for Argentina at under-23 level, in a 5–0 friendly victory against Bolivia in September 2019. In March 2019, Martínez received his first call-up to the senior team. He debuted against

on 22 March in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Martínez made one appearance at the

, which Argentina won. He was an unused substitute in Argentina's 3–0 victory over

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the

. At the

, Martinez came off the bench against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the round of 16, making an important block on a shot by

Aziz Behich Aziz Eraltay Behich (, ; born 16 December 1990) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a Fullback (association football), left back for A-League Men club Melbourne City FC, Melbourne City and the Australia men's national socce ...

. Martinez was part of the starting XI against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the quarter-finals and came off the bench against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the semis. In the final against title-holders

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he was an unused substitute as Argentina won 4–2 on penalties to win their third World Cup title. On 15 June 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for the

. He scored his first international goal, putting his team ahead in a 1–1 draw against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

in the quarter-finals of the tournament, which ended with a victory in the penalty shootout.

Style of play

He is primarily a

, though he is capable of playing at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

and as a defensive-midfielder, having played there at times for Defensa y Justicia and Ajax. He is a ball-playing centre-back and is known for his range of passing and composure on the ball. In the 2021–22 Eredivisie season, he averaged more passes per 90 minutes than any other player. Before signing him, Ajax's scouts characterised Martínez as a left-footed ball-playing defender who is "tough as nails" and possesses winning mentality. At Manchester United, his performances earned him comparisons to legendary former United defender

Nemanja Vidić Nemanja Vidić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Видић, ; born 21 October 1981) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Widely considered to be one of the greatest defenders in history, Vidić is best known for his t ...

, with Vidic himself praising Martínez for his aggressive defending and leadership. Despite his relatively short stature for a defender, standing at 5'9", he is also effective in duels.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Martínez goal.''

Honours

Ajax *

, 2021–22 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Manchester United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2023–24 *

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

: 2021, 2024 *

CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions The Finalissima or officially CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, formerly known as European/South American Nations Cup and also called Artemio Franchi Cup, is an intercontinental football match organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested by th ...

: 2022 Individual * Ajax Player of the Year (Rinus Michels Award): 2021–22 *Eredivisie Team of the Month: April 2021,

February 2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Lisandro 1998 births Living people People from Gualeguay Department Footballers from Entre Ríos Province Argentine men's footballers Men's association football defenders Newell's Old Boys footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers AFC Ajax players Manchester United F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Eredivisie players Premier League players Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2024 Copa América players FIFA World Cup–winning players Copa América–winning players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 21st-century Argentine sportsmen