Lisandro Martinez, a defender for Manchester United, will miss eight weeks of action due to a knee injury he suffered during Sunday’s 3-0 victory over West Ham United at home, the team said on Monday.

The injury occurred in the 71st minute when West Ham full defender Vladimir Coufal went down on his knee during a challenge, causing the Argentina international to leave the pitch.

“Lisandro Martinez has sustained an injury to the medial collateral ligament in his knee and is expected to be out of action for at least eight weeks,” United stated in a statement.

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Martinez underwent surgery to address a recurrent foot issue that he initially experienced against Sevilla in April, which caused him to be absent for almost four months earlier in the season. January saw his reappearance.

Manager Erik ten Hag stated on Sunday that “it’s very bad for him and very bad for the team.”

“I thought our performances degraded last season when he (the team) fell out.

“We have to avoid that because we have a good squad and centre-backs who can fill in,” he stated.

United is currently in sixth place, eight points behind Aston Villa, who they will be visiting on Sunday.