Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez wanted the club’s co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, to sign Emiliano Martinez before he joined Chelsea from Aston Villa, according to a reliable source, as Rio Ferdinand gives his reaction to the Argentine’s extraordinary outburst against Jason Wilcox.

Following Man Utd’s 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Martinez said that he expected “more” from Wilcox in terms of making signings in the summer transfer window.

Man Utd signed Carlos Baleba, Karl Darlow, Kit Margetson, Cristian Orozco, Andrey Santos, Tynan Thompson and Youri Tielemans in the summer of 2026.

The Guardian has since reported that Martinez plans to leave Man Utd at the end of the season.

TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, has reported that although Man Utd are not happy with Martinez, they are not rushing to sell him anytime soon.

The Athletic has now revealed that Martinez wanted Man Utd to sign his Argentina international teammate Emiliano Martinez and not Senne Lammens.

Man Utd signed Belgium international goalkeeper Lemmens from Royal Antwerp late in the 2025 summer transfer window.

The Red Devils paid £18.2million plus add-ons for the 24-year-old.

However, Man Utd were on the hunt for Emi Martinez, too.

The Argentina international goalkeeper was at Aston Villa at the time.

Emi Martinez, who plays with Lisandro Martinez for Argentina, joined Chelsea from Villa for £7.5million.

Journalist Laurie Whitwell wrote in The Athletic: “Martinez has done that in a more hostile manner here, but those who know him might not be totally surprised.

“Martinez made representations to Ratcliffe over bringing his Argentina team-mate Emi Martinez to the club last summer, before Senne Lammens was signed instead.”

Rio Ferdinand gives Lisandro Martinez verdict

Former Man Utd defender Rio Ferdinand has given his take on Martinez’s comments on Wilcox.

When asked how Man Utd’s dressing room would have reacted to Martinez’s comments, Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “I think there’s a couple of things you have to consider before you make a detailed assessment.

“I think you’ve got to understand what the relationship he has in the changing room is, whether this has been discussed between the players, so the new signings like [Youri] Tielemans, [Carlos] Baleba, [Andrey] Santos, and the guys are fully aware of the context of what he’s saying.

“Has he spoken to the management? Those questions I think you’d need to have the answers to and I think if I was a player, I’d have liked him to have come to me first or address the dressing room first before he spoke publicly like that.

“These things don’t end well, man. They don’t end well. Roy Keane spoke publicly, there could have been no more influence, bigger player than him, who was the captain at the time, and he left days later.

“Cristian Ronaldo called out individuals within the club: the manager, the ownership and he left straight after.

‘Ralf Rangnick looked like he was going to be there for a couple of years as interim manager and he called out things that needed to be done… and I’m not disagreeing with some of what these guys have said by the way.

“I’m just saying that this is what happens when someone talks out about the hierarchy of the football club.”

Ferdinand added: “First and foremost, hopefully he’s had a conversation and the players are well aware of how he felt.

“I don’t think it’s called for for the players to be hearing this firstly in the media rather than face to face with one of your team-mates, which makes it an awkward situation in the dressing room.

“I’m just thinking about it as a player. How would I feel if I was one of the new guys who have come in? One, I don’t know if they’re at the level but two, also, we haven’t got enough players to compete at this level.

“So I’d definitely be going [as a new player]: what does he think of me? That’s the question I’d be thinking.”

Ferdinand continued: ‘Do you know what? Lisandro Martinez is a straight-up guy, this tells you that and I think he’ll meet this head-on.

“Seeing the reaction, I think he’ll then go into the team and go, ‘Listen, guys, this is how it is, this is what I said. If it came across differently to how I really meant it because of the language barrier then so be it but this is what I really meant’, and I think he’ll probably do that.’