Man United board rocked as senior players side with Lisandro Martinez over explosive outburst

Senior Manchester United players share Lisandro Martinez’s frustrations with the hierarchy, talkSPORT understands.

Martinez called out sporting director Jason Wilcox over a lack of squad strengthening following Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in a bombshell post-match interview.

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talkSPORT has been told the Argentine is by no means the only United star unhappy with a perceived lack of ambition at board level with sporting director Wilcox firmly in their firing line.

There is a sense Wilcox missed the opportunity to build on the momentum of the second half of last season by only bringing in three midfielders in the summer when other areas of the squad were in need of additions.

Caption Bruno Fernandes has been visibly frustrated during United’s poor recent run and doubts remain over his long-term future at the club.

What did Martinez say?

“It was really poor, really poor,” Martinez told Amazon Prime minutes after the full-time whistle in Madrid.

“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.”

Martinez added: “Last season we created a base to build an amazing team. It’s annoying and disappointing to come here and I’m not seeing my team get an amazing result here.”

Does Martinez have a point?

United spent all of their summer transfer budget on midfielders Carlos Baleba (£70million), Andrey Santos (£50m) and Youri Tielemans (£35m).

The previous summer, more than £200m was spent on forwards Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.

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Ironically for Martinez, United’s defence is widely considered the area most neglected by the club’s recruitment strategy, with their first-choice backline often the same as it was in 2022.

talkSPORT’s chief football anchor Adrian Durham said: “He’s absolutely spot on.

“The hierarchy needed to do a lot more in the summer. They didn’t have a back-up left-back. Shaw is now injured.

“You’ve got two very young centre-backs – Yoro and Heaven. Then Maguire – who a lot of people like but also think he might not be at that level anymore.

“And Martinez – who has been injured. And De Ligt – who has been injured. They didn’t reinforce at the back.

“Did they need another goalscorer? Probably. They probably needed to offload a few as well.

“So I think he’s absolutely correct to call out the sporting directors.”