Nine months on the sidelines
Matthijs de Ligt has not played for Manchester United since December 2025. That is nine months of physiotherapy, gym work and watching from the stands while his defence took a beating without him.
TEAMtalk report that United are now planning for the Dutchman to return once September’s international break ends. The club have pencilled in the visit of Tottenham to Old Trafford on October 10 as a possible comeback date, though nobody at Carrington is treating that as fixed. The stated priority is having De Ligt available for most of the season rather than rushing him back into another setback.
United need him. They have conceded six goals in their opening three Premier League games.
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A summer spent elsewhere
The criticism of United’s transfer window has been loud since it shut. Almost every pound went into rebuilding the midfield. The defence got nothing, and the early weeks of the season have exposed that choice.
Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire have carried the blame for the goals conceded so far. Martinez in particular has drawn scrutiny, and Football Insider now report that United are ready to let him leave.
Former United chief scout Mick Brown put it plainly. “Lisandro Martinez is going to be one to watch, there are a few doubts about him,” Brown told Football Insider. “He’s too inconsistent, and that’s a problem if he starts giving away goals like the one against Ipswich where he was lucky that the game was already done at that point.”
Brown went further on the Argentine’s decision-making. “It’s nowhere near good enough for an international-class defender to get caught out trying to play the ball across your own box.”
What happens next
Brown accepts that releasing Martinez for nothing would raise eyebrows, since the World Cup winner remains well regarded and would improve plenty of squads. He is not convinced the long-term future is at Old Trafford, pointing to the injury record as much as the errors.
A De Ligt return around mid-October changes the maths for Michael Carrick. It hands him the senior centre-back he was supposed to have all along, and it buys the club room to make a call on Martinez without leaving the back line short.
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