The winds of change have already started blowing at Manchester United, with Ruben Amorim tasked with restoring the glory of the club from this season’s hubris.
There will undoubtedly be many casualties of the rebuild, with players expected to leave even more so now that Man Utd aren’t in Europe next season.
Then, players will also arrive as the squad begins to take shape in Ruben Amorim’s vision, but there’s a huge underlying narrative being missed right now.
It has to do with a player already at the club who won’t be sold, and a player already at the club who’ll make him expendable.
Man Utd will be unrecognisable to Lisandro Martinez
On February 2, 2025, Lisandro Martinez, fresh from the high of getting United a victory at Fulham with a long-range strike, took on Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.
Martinez had finally managed to regain the key player status that he had lost with Erik ten Hag’s departure, impressing Ruben Amorim.
- READ MORE: Who is Lisandro Martinez? Step inside the life of Manchester United’s tenacious Argentine
His passing skills, leadership, and left-footedness were not something found elsewhere in the squad, with Luke Shaw injured and Ayden Heaven playing academy football.
That day, he tore his ACL, one of the most brutal injuries halting his momentum just as he was getting it back after returning from an injury.
Martinez is almost certainly out until December at the very least and much to his misfortune, the time he’s missing will be era-defining.
If all goes to plan, the Man Utd he re-joins will look unrecognisable to him, with one player making him expendable from indispensable.
Ayden Heaven looms over Martinez
Heaven wasn’t even considered a first-team signing when he joined but by the time the season has finished, Ruben Amorim is thanking Jason Wilcox for signing him.
Heaven has shone in every game he’s played which is admittedly a small sample size but enough to convince of his potential.
As a physical, left-footed defender with passing and dribbling ability, he’s effectively an upgrade on Martinez if he reaches his potential.
Combine that with uncertainty over how good Martinez will look when he returns from such a brutal injury, and the picture doesn’t look too good for him.
Football moves fast and this summer at Old Trafford, it will move even faster. Unfortunately, Martinez is not just moving slowly, he’s forced to stop altogether.
Just like that, he can go from indispensable to expendable.
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