Lisandro Martinez has fired back at Paul Scholes after the former Manchester United midfielder claimed the Argentine defender isn’t good enough to win a Premier League title. Martínez, who joined United from Ajax for £55 million in 2022, has been sidelined for the rest of the season due to a knee injury sustained in a 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace earlier this month.
That hasn't stopped Scholes from launching a scathing critique, though. The Ginger Prince took aim at Martinez on a recent episode of the Overlap podcast, bluntly stating: “Even when he’s fit, he’s not good enough to win the Premier League with," seemingly kicking the man while he's already down.
Now, despite being out of action on the pitch, Martinez is making sure he’s still in the game when it comes to defending himself off it. Under Ruben Amorim, the 27-year-old has been one of few bright spots, and he's now responded to Scholes' digs.
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Lisandro Martinez Hits Back At Paul Scholes
The Argentinean defender hasn't taken to the United legends' criticism well
lisandro martinez
It wasn't the first time Scholes had raised doubts about Martinez as, last month, he revealed that he would be happy to sell him as part of a major rebuild at United. He was shoehorned into the same bracket as the likes of English duo Mason Mount and Luke Shaw, despite having played plenty more times than them.
While Martinez chose to turn a blind eye to that initial jab, Scholes' second dig was enough to grab his attention. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday evening, Martinez wrote:
"This jinx guy is really hurting....You put him in Argentina, and he wouldn’t survive."
Martinez ended up being just one of eight players Scholes criticised. The 50-year-old also slammed fellow defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro - the club's most expensive teenage signing. On De Ligt, he said, as per Daily Mail: "His age [25] and his amount of clubs already concerns me. He was brilliant at Ajax, he seems to be getting worse as he gets older. Bayern Munich, Juventus, they've let him go for some reason.
"Where are your ambitions? I'm talking about getting a team to win the Premier League. Are you going to win the Premier League with De Ligt and Yoro as your centre halves? You [a fan] said you think they're quite good. Is quite good good enough?"
He added on Yoro: "Look, he's a young player, but I haven't liked what I've seen so far. Did you see the Southampton game? He's a young player, he's one centre half I would keep, when I talk about that spine and two centre halves."