Lisandro Martinez’s decision to speak out on INEOS’s transfer policy may have an ulterior motive, with one US-based journalist revealing how Manchester United’s decision-makers are planning to drive out the club’s high-earners and make them feel unwelcome at Old Trafford.

The Argentina defender made headline news last week after publicly admonishing the club for their failure to adequately strengthen their squad over the summer and leaving what he perceived as a squad incapable of competing at the highest level under Michael Carrick.

And as sources explained in the days that followed, Martinez’s comments were partly motivated by growing speculation that Carrick’s job is under threat after what has been a lukewarm start to the season, with the Red Devils winning just two of their opening 10 games.

While Martinez has since apologised and Carrick insists a line has been drawn under the row, it is clear that all is not quite right at Old Trafford and his comments may have triggered the beginning of the end for the 28-year-old World Cup winner.

Indeed, it has already been reported that Martinez faces a fight to salvage his United career, with club bosses left unconvinced that the former Ajax man – who has a dubious injury record at Old Trafford – is worth keeping for the long term or extending his contract, which is currently due to expire in June 2028.

Now, per a well-connected NBC journalist, Martinez’s comments may have been made to try and accelerate that exit, with the player angling for a move away and amid claims that the Argentine is just one of a number of defenders who have been made to feel they are ‘not welcome’ at the club…

Man Utd defenders ‘made to feel unwelcome’

Having addressed their attack last summer and their midfield this, INEOS next plan to upgrade their defence, with 2027 transfers planned in both the centre of defence and at left-back.

That places doubts over the long-term futures of not just Martinez, but also potentially Luke Shaw and the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, with the latter soon hoping to return from a long-standing back problem.

Revealing why a number of players, particularly defenders, haven’t been made to feel welcome at Old Trafford, NBC journalist Phil Brown (Pilib de Bruin on X) has shared what a trusted source connected to the club has told him.

He wrote on his X page: “A number of players don’t feel welcome at the club and feel that there is a deliberate targeting of higher-paid players to get them to leave.

“A number of the defenders wanted to leave this summer because they have been told they are being replaced in a year, and some of those players are down to the last year of their contract.

“Those players are not going to play through injuries for fear of jeopardising a move, and they feel that when they have played through injuries and had a poor game as a result, nobody ever explains to the fans that they have been carrying injuries.

“Half that Utd team don’t want to be there because they feel like the club don’t want them to be there.”

Those comments certainly raise some alarming questions, and with the club making a poor start to the season, they do raise questions both about certain players’ commitment to the cause and INEOS’s treatment of them.

It’s not the first time, either, that co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been at the centre of doubts over the club’s highest-paid players, with the billionaire often pointing to the debts he has inherited at the club and amid his drive to remove the club’s highest-earning, but underperforming stars.

Under the INEOS regime, two Sky Sports men have looked into United’s ‘very sad’ financial plight, with mega-money signings now a thing of the past.

The next high earner could also prove to be Bruno Fernandes after it was claimed on Monday that the ‘tired’ player now wants out for two reasons – and with an exit as soon as January potentially in the works.