Lisandro Martinez will have to earn a new contract with Man Utd, according to journalist Andy Mitten.

Speaking on the Talk Of The Devils podcast, Mittens said that concerns over the Argentinian international’s fitness will mean that the club will hold back from extending his current deal for the time being:

“I think Martinez needs to be playing all the time. I think there’s judgments being made about Martinez, in the same way there might have been about Harry Maguire in December. It’s like, ‘Oh, you want a new contract? Well first of all, you need to be playing, and you need to be playing well’. I think Martinez’s position is in a little bit of a state of flux at Manchester United.”

“At one point on Saturday, I said that nobody passes through the lines from United’s defence better than Martinez does. On his day, he’s absolutely quality. He’s a huge figure in the dressing room.”

“There’s been times early on under Michael Carrick that he was Manchester United’s captain. But he needs to be playing. He needs to be playing all of the time. If he’s thinking, ‘Is my future going to be here? Do I need a new contract?’ You wouldn’t give him one.”

Martinez’s game time since the start of last season

The 28-year-old has played only 3840 minutes over the last two years. In contrast, captain Bruno Fernandes has played more than double that amount (7955) during the same period..

Martinez has had his injury problems, most notably the ACL that he sustained against Crystal Palace in February last year, but he has been sidelined with several other issues since joining the club from Ajax in the summer of 2022.

Man Utd don’t need to make a decision soon

While Martinez’s contract does expire at the end of next season, the club have the option to automatically extend it for another twelve months.

Of course, they could choose not to trigger the clause, like they did with Casemiro, but they may wait until the start of next year to decide whether to keep the centre-back.

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