Lisandro Martinez has become the latest Manchester United player to publicly criticise the club, following a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. The defender's outburst came after United conceded inside the opening minute and fell to a second consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Martinez spoke to Amazon Prime and CBS Sports after the match, criticising the club's hierarchy and stating he had expected greater investment in the summer. He specifically targeted technical director Jason Wilcox, declaring that United's current squad lacks the calibre to compete in the Champions League, while deflecting responsibility from his manager.
Context of the criticism
United have won just one Premier League match from six this season and were eliminated from the Carabao Cup following a 3-2 defeat to Brighton. On Saturday, they drew 1-1 with 10-man Tottenham, having previously lost 1-0 at home to City before the international break.
Martinez's tirade has added to the sense of chaos at Old Trafford, but United have survived comparable controversies before. Here is a look at other players who have publicly rebelled against the club and what happened next.
Jadon Sancho - 2023
Jadon Sancho, who moved to United in 2021 for £73 million, had a torrid spell. In September 2023, manager Erik ten Hag publicly criticised his training application and excluded him from a matchday squad to face Arsenal. Sancho reacted angrily on social media, posting: "Please don't believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that [are] completely untrue. I have conducted myself in training very well this week. I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won't go into. I have been a scapegoat for a long time which isn't fair!"
Sancho declined to apologise and was sent on loan to Borussia Dortmund in January 2024 after being frozen out. Spells at Chelsea and Aston Villa followed before his United deal ran down this summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo - 2022
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 27 goals during his second spell with United, but it will be remembered for his interview with Piers Morgan in November 2022. Ronaldo, weary of being relegated to the substitutes' bench under Ten Hag, said: "Manchester United tried to force me out. Not only the manager, but the other two or three guys who are around the club [at the senior executive level]. I felt betrayed. I don't care, people should listen to the truth. Yes, I felt betrayed."
He also targeted the Glazer family, saying: "The progress was zero. Since Sir Alex left, I saw no evolution in the club. Nothing had changed." About Ten Hag, he said: "I don't have respect for him because he doesn't show respect for me." His contract was swiftly terminated, and he joined Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, where he remains at age 41.
Dean Henderson - 2022
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson, now at Crystal Palace, had a dig in 2022 after securing a loan switch to Nottingham Forest. He felt let down by unkept commitments concerning the goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford and the possible succession of David de Gea. He told talkSPORT: "It has probably been the toughest 12 months of my career. The conversation I had coming out of the Euros squad was, 'You're coming back here to be the No. 1.' I got Covid, came back, so I should have still been the No. 1, but then unfortunately nobody followed through with what they had told me. It was frustrating because I turned down so many good loans last summer for that reason, and they would not let me go. To sit there and waste 12 months, it is criminal really. At my age, I was fuming. I told the hierarchy that I need to be playing football, I don't want to be here and play second fiddle, it was planned out. I was almost gone before the manager (Ten Hag) came through the door. I have not spoken to him since."
Henderson remained a United player when the comments were aired, but he moved to Palace in 2023 and has since won the FA Cup, Conference League and Community Shield with the Eagles.
Paul Pogba - 2020
Paul Pogba, the world's most expensive player when he returned to United in 2016, had a problematic second spell. In 2018, under Jose Mourinho, he said: "When we are at home we should attack, attack, attack. That's Old Trafford. We are here to attack." In 2020, while on international duty with France, he said: "The France team is a breath of fresh air, the group is exceptional, it's magic. It's not that in the club we don't have fun, but here it's not the same. We laugh, we have fun, it's a family."
Pogba left United in 2022 to return to Juventus, but was suspended following a failed drugs test. He received a four-year doping ban in 2024, reduced to 18 months on appeal. He joined Monaco in 2025 and left this summer, and is currently a free agent.
Romelu Lukaku - 2019
Romelu Lukaku, a £75m signing from Everton in 2017, pushed for a transfer in August 2019 when facing a reduced role under Solskjaer. On the LightHarted Podcast, he said: "A lot of stuff has been said where I didn't feel protected. I felt like a lot of rumours, 'Rom going there', 'They don't want Rom', and nobody came out to shut it down. It was for a good three, four weeks. I'm waiting for someone to come out and shut it down. It didn't happen. I just wanted you to say, 'Rom is going to fight for his place,' but it never happened for four, five months."
Days later, he completed a move to Inter Milan. He spent two seasons there before returning to England with Chelsea in a troubled stint, then went on loan to Inter and Roma before joining Napoli permanently in 2024. He currently plays for Fenerbahce.
Wayne Rooney - 2010
Wayne Rooney, a United icon with five Premier League titles, pushed for an exit in October 2010, insisting the club could not match his ambitions. He said: "I met with [United's chief executive] David Gill last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad. I then told him that I would not be signing a new contract. I have had a number of meetings with the club about a new contract. During those meetings in August, I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract the top players in the world. For me, it's all about winning trophies, as the club has always done under Sir Alex. Because of that, I think the questions I was asking were justified."
Just 48 hours later, a new contract was placed before Rooney, which he signed. He stayed for seven more years before a season at Everton, then played for DC United and Derby County before retiring.
Carlos Tevez - 2009
Carlos Tevez joined United on a two-year loan from West Ham in 2007 and was an instant success. In 2009, with no permanent deal tabled, he said: "I've been waiting for a year-and-a-half for them to make an offer. I don't know what my future is. United know what they have to pay if they want me to stay. It annoys me that they're beginning to play games with the people who cheer me with such affection in every match... If I have to leave the club then I want to leave in a good way."
Tevez signed for rivals Manchester City in July 2009. His stint there was turbulent, and he left in 2013 for Juventus, then Shanghai Shenhua and Boca Juniors, before retiring in Argentina in 2022.
Roy Keane - 2005
Roy Keane's October 2005 interview on MUTV is perhaps the most brutally candid ever given by a United player. After a 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough, Keane launched an attack on virtually everything and everyone connected with the club. The programme was shelved and never aired, but the recording leaked in early November 2005. Keane was fined £5,000 and never played for United again.
Among his remarks: "I wasn't surprised by the result, I had been expecting one like this. I am sick of having to say it and they (the players) are sick of listening to me. They have let down the club, the manager, and the fans." He criticised Darren Fletcher, saying: "I can't understand why people in Scotland rave about Darren Fletcher." Of Kieran Richardson, he said: "He is a lazy defender who deserved to get punished. He wasn't doing his job." And of Rio Ferdinand: "Just because you are paid £120,000 a week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar."
