According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, there is one reason behind Manchester United’s decision on whether to offer a “new contract” to a key star.
In the summer, Man Utd were understandably focused on transfers as they invested around £230m to sign Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens.
The Red Devils also worked on exits to balance the books, with Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Jadon Sancho among the players to move elsewhere.
Now, Man Utd appear to have turned to settling contract situations, with Romano claiming they “want to discuss a new contract” with Lisandro Martinez.
The 27-year-old was earmarked by former boss Erik ten Hag as an ideal signing after they worked together at Ajax, with the centre-back joining Man Utd during the 2022 summer transfer window.
Martinez shone during his debut season at Man Utd to silence his critics, though injuries have impacted him over the past few seasons.
The Argentina international has been out of action with an ACL injury since February, though Romano is of the understanding that he “will return as soon as possible”.
Martinez is only under contract until 2027, with Romano revealing that his “situation” is “one to follow” in the coming months.
Romano has also confirmed that they are keen to settle Martinez’s future soon, as they “don’t want to go into late 2026”.
“Contracts at Man Utd will now be an important part of the focus for the club after this summer transfer window,” Romano said on his YouTube channel.
“One of the situations to follow, from what I’m told, is the one of Lisandro ‘Licha’ Martinez. Licha is out with an injury. Licha is not available now, but he will return as soon as possible.
“My understanding is that Man Utd want to discuss a new contract with Licha. He’s out of contract in 2027. Man Utd don’t want to go into late 2026 with the player not having his contract extended yet to avoid the problems.
“And so what Man Utd will try to do is to negotiate with Martinez before arriving in the final year of his contract.
“Now, waiting for the player to return, of course, there is no rush, no pressure, but for sure, Man Utd want to try as soon as possible. My feeling is as soon as Licha will be close to returning, they will try to accelerate.”