Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez underwent successful surgery on his broken metatarsal on Monday.
The world champion fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in last week’s Europa League draw against Sevilla.
He is out for the rest of the season as the injury usually takes six to eight weeks to heal.
Martinez has been one of United’s standout players this season, having joined from Ajax. He was nominated for the Premier League’s Team of the Season and was keen to end the campaign by reaching Champions League football.
His absence will hurt United as Raphaël Varane is also out through injury. Martinez wrote on Instagram last week: “Not how I imagined a very special end to the season, but sometimes we encounter obstacles along the way that we have to overcome to make ourselves stronger and we I know I will be back very soon to do more.
“In the meantime, I will continue to support all my teammates to achieve our goals.
The number of messages and support I have received has been incredible, giving me strength and encouragement at this time. Thank you very much to all of you from the bottom of my heart.”
Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have been reinstated as starting centre-backs, but the club are actively working to add a new defender for the summer.
Monaco’s Axel Disasi and Napoli’s Kim Min-Jae are among the names they discussed while also expecting to sack Eric Bailly, who endured a tough time on loan at Marseille.
Kim Min-Jae is currently considered one of the best centre-backs in Europe and has an active £40m clause for a short summer window.
Liverpool, Tottenham and Newcastle are also keen on the 26-year-old South Korean and have spoken to his representatives, but Paris St Germain are also keen to pair him with Milan Skriniar, who they sign from Inter Milan.
