The Manchester United defender has opened up about the mental toll of tearing his ACL in February 2025, an injury that kept him off the pitch for roughly 10 months and pushed him to the edge of calling it quits entirely.

The moment it almost ended

In an interview with AFA Estudio, Martinez did not dress it up. “After the first two or three weeks, I didn’t want to play football anymore,” he said. “I said, ‘That’s it, I don’t want to know anything else.'”

Martinez had been dealing with a string of injury setbacks in the seasons prior, including foot problems that repeatedly disrupted his rhythm at Old Trafford. By the time the ACL went in February 2025, the accumulated weight of those stoppages had clearly worn him down psychologically as much as physically.

A World Cup comeback worth the wait

Martinez not only recovered, he recovered well enough to earn selection in Argentina’s 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

He made 19 appearances for Manchester United during the 2025-26 season, starting 14 of those games, as the club managed his return carefully given the severity of the injury.

At the World Cup, Martinez featured prominently in Argentina’s squad and delivered a standout defensive display as the defending champions opened the tournament with a 3-0 victory.

Martinez’s willingness to say publicly that he did not want to play football anymore, that he was ready to walk away, cuts against the traditional stoicism.

His limited appearance count for United this season, 19 games including only 14 starts, reflects the club’s careful management of a player coming back from one of the more serious injuries in football.