Martínez apology: sorry for the timing, not the Wilcox point

Update (30 Oct): Martínez played the first half at Leeds before going off with a thigh problem, missed Como, and came on against Bournemouth. He's in the squad for Chelsea on Saturday. There's been no announcement on his contract option. Latest fitness news is in our Man Utd injury tracker.

The Martínez apology was carefully worded, and the wording tells you everything. Lisandro Martínez said sorry for when and where he criticised Manchester United's recruitment. He didn't say he was wrong about it. Two weeks and three defeats later, nobody at the club has really tried to argue that he was.

What he said in Madrid

After the 2-0 defeat by Atlético Madrid on 13 October, Martínez went further than any United player has gone in public for years.

"Tonight it is easy to say the coach, easy to say the players, but also we have to see other areas," he said. Then he went further:

"I have to control myself a lot. But sometimes it's a reflection of our club at the moment. We did it last season and now we expect more from the top.

"To bring more players, to compete. Other teams bring in many more players. I expect more from everyone… 100 per cent I expected more from our technical director.

"I have to be honest and also the players have to do more but it's just important when you make a strong squad for this type of night."

The technical director is Jason Wilcox, United's director of football. Players don't usually go after the man who signs them, and certainly not in public on the night of a Champions League defeat.

What he said two days later

Martínez met the club's leadership and Michael Carrick at Carrington, then posted his statement.

"Today I met with the club's leadership and the manager. The frustration of the defeat led me to express how I felt at a time and place that perhaps were not the right ones, and for that I want to apologise."

Look at the word "perhaps". He's sorry about the timing and the venue. The point stands. Wilcox isn't mentioned by name either, even though he was part of the discussions that led to the statement. Martínez was also fined, BBC Sport reported, and there's significant doubt over his long-term future.

How Carrick handled it

Carrick's line at his Leeds press conference was that the dressing room had moved on. Wayne Rooney had warned that Martínez could "rip the dressing room apart". Carrick wasn't having it.

"Just because people talk on the outside doesn't mean that is the truth. I am telling you the truth. The squad today was in a fantastic place, better than I have seen it for a while. That is it, plain and simple."

Asked whether the lack of an apology to Wilcox by name was a problem, he said: "He's released his statement, he's realised he's made a mistake, and I think that's enough for all of us to move on with."

Asked whether Wilcox himself should be explaining recruitment, he said: "I don't think it's for me to say whether he should or not." It's a telling gap. Wilcox has spoken publicly once in the last 12 months, and that was to United's own media channel. When a director of football doesn't speak, the head coach answers for his signings at every press conference. Carrick has been doing that all autumn.

Why the point won't go away

Wilcox oversaw £155m on three midfielders in the summer: Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. He looked for a left-back, with Newcastle's Lewis Hall the prime target, and came back without one. The Guardian found people inside the squad who shared Martínez's frustration, though one teammate challenged him before the flight home.

Since then, Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu have both been out, a centre-back played left-back in Madrid, and United have taken one point from four games. The squad going to Stamford Bridge on Saturday has no specialist left-back in it. We've set out the full picture in the left-back United never bought.

There's a less flattering reading as well. Martínez's contract runs out next summer unless United take up a 12-month option, and the outburst was also read as a push for a move. United still hadn't decided on that option when the matter was declared closed, and nothing has been announced since.

Where it leaves him

Martínez was wrong to say it in Madrid, and the apology was the right call. A club that tolerates public attacks on its recruitment chief by players has lost control of its message.

He was right about the squad, though, and the last fortnight has proved it. The matter is closed at Carrington. In the stands, it never will be until Wilcox signs a left-back.

For Martínez himself, the answer is simple and has nothing to do with statements. He's 28, fit again and in the squad for Chelsea. If he plays, he needs to defend the way he did in the first half at Elland Road. A contract option gets decided on that, not on what he says to the cameras.

Picture: Lisandro Martínez during Argentina v Egypt at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, by Bryan Berlin via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped to 16:9.