Graeme Souness names trait Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez has that's not 'clever'

Graeme Souness is the latest pundit to question Lisandro Martinez's suitability to the Premier League because of his height, as the Scot also suggested the defender goes to ground too often in the tackle.

Martinez has had both promising and worrying performances for United since joining from Ajax, and will now hope to build a partnership with Raphael Varane after captain Harry Maguire was dropped following an embarrassing 4-0 defeat by Brentford.

Martinez' 5ft 9in frame has already been the subject of numerous debates, and when Ben Mee rose above him to nod in just a few yards out in Brentford's aforementioned win over United earlier this month, it led to a rise in criticism not only of the player but manager Erik ten Hag who fought so hard to ensure the 24-year-old followed him from Ajax to Old Trafford.

ALSO READ: United scouting Celtic midfielder

Martinez was hauled off at half-time that day but a hugely encouraging performance in the win over Liverpool saw him fight back against his critics.

Despite Martinez putting in another solid performance against Southampton, Souness said he still has doubts over the Argentine.

Souness said: "Southampton were putting Che Adams and they were targeting him. He's vertically challenged, and I was racking my mind on who has played in the Premier League at his height and been a success. I think he will get tested and found out."

Simon Jordan then added: "Imagine what Haaland will do to him? Or Mitrovic?"

Souness then said: "That's a mismatch. He's not really special at anything - he does stay aggressive but he goes down too easily. The clever defenders stay on their feet and reading and anticipating - if you are lunging you are not reading.

"It's not always direct one-on-one,