Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has refused to apologise for his criticism of defender Lisandro Martinez, despite admitting his comments were poorly worded
10:09, 23 Jan 2026
Paul Scholes spoke again about his comments on Lisandro Martinez
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Paul Scholes spoke again about his comments on Lisandro Martinez(Image: )
Manchester United icon Paul Scholes has stood his ground and refused to apologise for his remarks about the club's defender Lisandro Martinez.
The controversy began when Scholes questioned Martinez's capability to handle Manchester City's Erling Haaland, prompting a retort from the defender, sparking a verbal tussle between the pair and Scholes' close ex-United pal Nicky Butt.
After aiding United in maintaining a clean sheet against City, Martinez extended an invitation to Scholes to discuss the matter 'face to face' at his home. Scholes responded on social media with a cheeky "tea, no sugar pls". His former team-mate, Butt, also chimed in, advising Martinez to 'f****** grow up."
Lisandro Martinez
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Lisandro Martinez hit back at Paul Scholes(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
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In his most recent response to the ongoing feud, Scholes admitted his comments may not have been delivered in the best manner but remained unapologetic.
During the Overlap fan debate with Jamie Carragher, when asked if he profited from his remarks made on his own podcast, Scholes responded: "No comment. I didn't realise how many Argentinean friends I had until this week. F****** hell, I've had some s*** off them, Jesus, reports the Mirror.
"But hey, look, that was my opinion. Do you know what? What we said probably wasn't great when you look back. Carragher then probed if he was retracting his previous statements, to which Scholes firmly replied: "No, I'm not apologising for it, no.
Paul Scholes
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Paul Scholes refused to back down(Image: Matt West/Shutterstock)
"The thing we were trying to say was - we thought - and it still is: physically, it's a mismatch."
When asked by Carragher if he made some money from his comments, which he made on his own podcast, Scholes replied with: "Now look, the way we described it probably wasn't great and we probably shouldn't have done that but still: it was [a mismatch]. He's had one good game [smiles]
"How many, two? I hope to God he proves me wrong, but look at the week before against Brighton, Danny Welbeck. Look at the week before that: Burnley. He gave the goal away against Burnley.
"I can see why he was offended by it, and that's why I say we probably worded it not in a great way. And look, I hope he proves me wrong.
Erling Haaland and Lisandro Martinez - a "mismatch"
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Erling Haaland and Lisandro Martinez - a "mismatch"(Image: Getty Images)
"He's had a great game against City, he was brilliant but we've got to see that now for a season. And again, on Sunday, it's a big one for him."
When internet personality Adam McKola enquired whether he realised the impact of his remarks whilst making them, or if it was simply casual conversation between mates, Scholes responded: "I haven't really, as much.
"Probably since them comments, there has been a lot of backlash towards it. Toxicity is the word that you use and a lot of people probably have labelled that at me and Nicky for the last few days.
"It's not something we like doing. We want to see the team winning, we want to see the team successful every single week.
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"You go back to when we played and when Jamie played, you did get a bit of criticism. I think it's probably more so now than it ever has been that people are speaking their mind.
"And you've got to deal with it. You've got to realise you're at probably - well, definitely - one of the biggest clubs in the world and you are going to take a little bit of criticism at times, especially when it's not going as well as it has, or as well as it could do."