Ruben Amorim's stance on selling Lisandro Martinez has been revealed after the Manchester United star was linked with a shock transfer to Napoli.
Martinez has been a good defender for United since following Erik ten Hag from Ajax in 2022 in a deal worth upwards of £50million.
The Red Devils have however struggled when the Argentine World Cup winner has been unavailable, which unfortunately for them is quite often.
Over the past three seasons, the 27-year-old has missed a whopping 80 games for club and country because of injury and has not played since suffering a cruciate ligament injury in early February.
Martinez underwent surgery to deal with the issue and won't return before the start of the 2025/26 campaign, with some reports suggesting he might not feature again until next year.
Given his fitness problems and the need to raise funds for his rebuild, it would be understandable if Amorim sold Martinez, with Napoli interested in his services.
Antonio Conte is keen on the centre-back, as well as out of favour winger Alejandro Garnacho, following the highly successful signing of Scott McTominay from Old Trafford last summer.
But Martinez is not keen on the move and neither is Amorim, with Sky Sports reporting that the head coach was 'hugely impressed by Martinez before the injury' and sees him as 'a key pillar of his defence' and the leadership group at the club.
Additionally, the player's rehabilitation is going well and there is no tear in his meniscus, though he will not be rushed back into the playing squad until he has returned to peak physical condition.
Not including Martinez, United have just four natural centre-backs in their squad, two of whom, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, are teenagers - far from ideal when they play with a back-three formation.
Amorim is hoping to improve all areas of his squad as he looks to bounce back after United collapsed to 15th in the Premier League table and missed out on European qualification.
Much of the transfer business so far has focused on United's attack, with Matheus Cunha already through the door.
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