Erik ten Hag was right about Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez

Draped in the blue and white of the Argentine flag, Lisandro Martinez, not for the first time in his career, celebrated winning a trophy with Erik ten Hag right by his side.

Less than 12 months after swapping Amsterdam for Manchester, the Manchester United duo could not help but express what winning their first trophy in English football meant to them, joining fellow former Ajax employee Antony on the Wembley turf for a spot of dancing at the end of Sunday's Carabao Cup final triumph over Newcastle United. Both Ten Hag and Martinez, though they operate from different sides of the white line, have made extraordinary impacts since arriving at Old Trafford, possibly beyond what even they thought would be possible.

While there is no denying that United's supporters have fallen in love with Ten Hag, highlighted by the volume of the roar he earned when he held the Carabao Cup aloft on the Wembley balcony, Martinez has become just as much of a hero.

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The centre-back, snapped up for an initial fee of £46.8million last July, has made an unassailable impact in M16, becoming an instant fans' favourite. He is adored by those who fill the stands each and every week, with his passion and appetite for the game unlike anything United's fans have seen in years.

His South American aura means that he wears his heart on his sleeve and never knows when enough is enough. As he once said in an interview during his time at Ajax, 'If I have to step over dead bodies I do it.'

Though that claim had a metaphoric meaning to it, it was not all that far from the truth, really. Martinez, despite being the smallest centre-back in the Premier League - something that was documented