Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has revealed his surprise at losing Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez for the international break.
The 26-year-old reported for duty with La Albiceleste for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru, but has since pulled out of the squad and returned to United for further assessment after being deemed unfit following further medical tests on a back issue.
Martinez is thought to have sustained the injury during United's 3-0 win against Leicester last weekend.
But given the defender completed the full 90 minutes, the assumption was that the back problem wasn't too serious and that he would be available for Argentina.
That will not be the case and Scaloni has explained the process behind Martinez's withdrawal.
“We didn’t expect the case of Lisandro," the World Cup winning coach said in a news conference, as per Sport Witness.
“We saw that he had suffered a blow to his back, but apparently, he had no problem, just pain. When he arrived here, the pain increased a bit, he underwent tests and is not fit to be here.”
New United head coach Ruben Amorim will now be sweating on Martinez's availability for his first game in charge away at Ipswich Town on November 24.
Martinez's 2023-24 season was disrupted by numerous fitness issues as he missed a total of 42 games for club and country.
But this season's he has been an ever-present in matchday squads across all competitions, featuring in all but two games.
