Manchester United are dealing with a serious injury to defender Lisandro Martinez.
Ruben Amorim spoke after Manchester United's loss to Palace to admit Lisandro Martinez' injury appeared of a serious nature.
It was one of the injuries where you instantly knew there was trouble, from Martinez's reaction, with the centre-back needing to be stretchered off.
Lisandro Martinez will not play for Manchester United again this season, and it is claimed in Argentina that he has torn his ACL and will be out for most of 2025.
It is devastating news for the centre-back, who had been in outstanding form in January, and his teammates are rallying around him.
Lisandro Martinez replacement
Manchester United being without Lisandro Martinez is a big blow. While Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro look like being the de-facto back three, it is not quite so simple.
Victor Lindelof could also play a stop-gap role, while new signing Ayden Heaven could be catapulted into the line-up.
The player who is best placed to step up, now he is back in training at Carrington, is expected to be Luke Shaw.
Shaw has played as part of a back-three before and the position change is one that suits him.
Amid his re-injury concerns, playing at centre-back is less taxing than wing-back where he would be expected to whizz up and down the flanks.
Amorim played him in this role upon his return in December before his latest injury, and this is where we could see him feature, especially with Martinez's injury.
Patrick Dorgu's signing allows United to do this, rather than having to call on Shaw to be the left wing-back on a weekly basis.
Luke Shaw will help Patrick Dorgu
Luke Shaw is a quality footballer when fit, and the shift to centre-back allows United to select him in the same team as Patrick Dorgu.
Dorgu is being brought in to make United's game more expansive, and placing Luke Shaw behind him at left centre-back could be a shrewd move.
Shaw understands the left-back role better than any, and will be alert to help Dorgu when he forays forward.
While the ongoing problem with Shaw is his fitness and availability, right now he is nearing a return, and the prospect of him replacing newly injured Martinez is a real one.
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