Lisandro Martinez has returned to Manchester United - less than a week after Erik ten Hag warned the defender that he expected him back at Old Trafford following his World Cup triumph.
Martinez, 24, was part of the Argentina squad that dethroned France in the World Cup final just under two weeks ago in a dramatic penalty shootout and has been celebrating in his homeland ever since.
But the former Ajax man has now returned to Manchester - and it has emerged that Martinez decided to skip the wedding of close friend and international teammate Nicolas Tagliafico, which took place in Argentina, in order to return to Manchester earlier this week in a bid to make himself available for the club's stacked festive fixture list.
That's according to The Daily Mail, who report that Martinez is hopeful of featuring when United travel to Wolves on New Years Eve.
Martinez' return comes just a few days after Ten Hag hinted that the centre-back would have to cease his celebrations in order to focus on the remainder of the Premier League campaign.
The Dutchman said last week: “[Martinez] has been celebrating in Buenos Aires and I can understand that. It’s the highest you can achieve. But also, Lisandro Martinez has to accept that on the 27th the Premier League will go on."
Martinez has made a significant impact at Old Trafford since his £55million summer switch from Ajax. Despite initial concerns over his height, Martinez has firmly established himself as one of United's first-choice defenders at the expense of club captain Harry Maguire and has played a key role in their rise up the table before the World Cup break.
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It remains to be seen when Martinez will return to the fold after flying back to Manchester from Argentina; however, Ten Hag could accelerate plans after Maguire and Victor Lindelof were absent from the starting XI that ran out 3-0 winners against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night with a virus. Maguire did feature as a substitute late on.
Raphael Varane, who also played in the final for France but had a shorter trip back than Martinez, did step up to make an earlier than anticipated return alongside Luke Shaw, who deputised as a left-sided centre-back.
Unsurprisingly, Ten Hag was full of praise for Varane after the match. He said: “Rapha, I think, he shows once again his great personality, the great standards he is giving Manchester United by coming from the World Cup. We had a problem in the centre-half position and he is taking responsibility to play and he performed really well. He was, once again, very important for our team.”
