Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez to undergo surgery that could sideline him until 2024

Lisandro Martinez is set to undergo surgery on the foot injury that has kept him out of the Manchester United side in recent weeks.

Martinez fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in a Europa League game against Sevilla last season and did not return to the side until the beginning of this season.

The Argentine went under the knife to fix the problem earlier in the year but it has clearly not been resolved and the Mail reports that Martinez could be absent for the remainder of the calendar year as a result of this second operation.

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The Mail says Martinez took painkillers to combat the pain in order to feature in the defeats by Bayern Munich and Brighton last month, but that scans taken last week showed the bone has not healed correctly. Martinez will reportedly undergo surgery on Monday ahead of a lengthy rehabilitation process.

On Friday Erik ten Hag said of Martinez's latest lay-off: "We did a proper diagnosis, in Argentina as well, but now it came out that there was a problem. That's very sad, for him and the team, because he was not 100 per cent fit.

"I think it was a big difference the Licha Martinez in the last games and the Licha Martinez we have seen in the first season here. He will add to the team, a really strong contributor to our levels and if already one player drops a level, the team performance will be lower."