Nicky Butt says Lisandro Martinez has lost Manchester United fans’ support

Manchester United great Nicky Butt has launched a fierce criticism of Lisandro Martinez, questioning the defender’s performances, his public comments about the club and his conduct on international duty with Argentina.

Butt said Martinez should not expect sympathy from supporters while struggling for form, referring to the banner incident involving the Argentina squad during the 2026 World Cup.

Several Argentina players held a banner reading “The Malvinas Islands are Argentine” after their 2-1 semi-final victory over England in July. Martinez was pictured alongside Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso.

The Argentine Football Association was fined £235,000 over the incident, although Martinez was not personally punished, according to the Mirror.

Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, former Manchester United midfielder Butt said: “He lives in our country, then dances and raises the Argentina flag at the World Cup. What are you doing? And then you expect people to pat you on the back when you have a bad game.”

He added: “Some of these people need to understand. It does not matter if you earn £200,000 a week and drive a Rolls-Royce around your little village thinking you have become king. You can do what you want, but you cannot expect people to praise you when you play that badly and attack other people.”

Butt was also critical of Martinez’s comments about Manchester United’s recruitment policy after the club’s 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last month.

The former midfielder argued that Martinez’s own performances did not justify him criticising the club’s recruitment officials and suggested the defender could be among the first players to be replaced if Manchester United decide to strengthen their squad.

“These players become very sensitive to criticism,” Butt said. “Then he has the nerve to do an interview criticising the people responsible for recruitment, despite not playing well himself.

“If the club decide to sign new players, he needs to be careful because he is one of the first players they could replace.”

Butt also condemned the challenge that led to Martinez being sent off in Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat by Chelsea. Martinez caught Morgan Rogers with an elbow inside the penalty area, resulting in both a red card and a penalty.

“He gave up in that incident and used his elbow because he does not have enough strength to defend properly,” Butt said.

Recalling his own time at Manchester United, Butt said a player who behaved in a similar way would have faced a severe reaction from team-mates.

“In my days, they would have absolutely torn his head off,” he said. “Everyone would have asked him: ‘Who do you think you are, talking about your team-mates like that, considering the level you are showing?’

“Even if you were the best player in Europe, you would not have the right to speak about your team-mates in that way.”

Butt concluded that Martinez had gone from being a popular player to someone supporters wanted to leave Old Trafford. He also agreed with Piers Morgan’s suggestion that Martinez should be left out of Michael Carrick’s squad.