📅 October 16, 2026
Lisandro Martínez Apologises After Meeting Wilcox and Berrada, and Carrick Says “It’s Done”
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Lisandro Martínez has apologised, and Michael Carrick says it’s over. After a meeting with Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Carrick at Carrington on Thursday, Martínez put out a second statement that said sorry for the timing of his Madrid outburst. On Friday Carrick told his pre-Leeds press conference “it’s done, really” and confirmed Martínez is in the squad for Sunday.
He’s apologised for when and where he said it. He hasn’t taken back what he said.
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The meeting and the apology
Sky Sports News and the Telegraph both report that he met the club’s leadership on Thursday, with the technical director, the chief executive and the head coach all in the room. The Telegraph says he was summoned after training.
His statement came out on Thursday night. “Today I met with the club’s leadership and the manager,” he wrote. “It was a very positive conversation, where we were able to exchange views and speak openly about what happened after Tuesday’s game.”
Then the apology. “The frustration of the defeat led me to express how I felt at a time and place that perhaps were not the right ones, and for that I want to apologise. Our club is at its best when we are all united, and I recognise that my words in that moment did not help with that.”
He finished with a line aimed squarely at the people he’d criticised: “I know that every single person at Manchester United is doing everything possible to achieve our shared ambition: bringing the success that this club and its supporters deserve. With this situation now behind us, we are fully focused on winning together.”
That’s a different document from Wednesday’s. The first statement, which we covered yesterday, explained the anger and kept the call for more ambition. This one says sorry and says everyone upstairs is doing everything possible. Read together, he’s moved on the delivery and stayed quiet on the substance.
The fine
United haven’t confirmed any punishment. Sky says the decision to apologise publicly was his and that any disciplinary decisions will stay private between him and the club, though it adds he’s reportedly been fined. The Telegraph says insiders understand he’s been fined, and ESPN’s sources say the same. Nobody has published an amount we can stand behind, so we’re not giving one.
Both Sky and the Telegraph say the club now considers the matter closed.
What Carrick said
Carrick was asked about it first on Friday. “It’s done, really,” he said, per The Peoples Person’s transcript. “As a group, we’ve moved on. It’s really not a drama for us as a group.” AFP, via France 24, carried the same lines.
On the talks, he kept it short. “It was pretty simple,” he said, adding that everyone understood the situation and that Martínez had made his statement and accepted it was “a mistake from him, and that was it, really.”
Asked whether Martínez is available: “He’s part of the squad, yeah.” When a reporter pushed on why anyone should believe the squad is united while ex-players agree with Martínez, Carrick didn’t give ground. “There’s a lot of people that say a lot of things, and ex-pros are ex-pros. It doesn’t necessarily mean they understand what’s going on here.”
He also turned down an invitation to talk about his own position. “I don’t need results. We all need results. It’s not about me.”
The rest of the team news
On Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo, who both missed Madrid, Carrick said only “we’ll see.” He said Benjamin Sesko is still having checks, is “still a little bit further away,” and that the club won’t put a timeline on it until it’s clear.
Whether Martínez starts at Elland Road is now the only question left in this. If you missed what he said in Madrid, the interview that started it is here in full.
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Sources: The meeting, the full statement, the reported fine, the club keeping discipline private and the matter being closed from Sky Sports (15 Oct 2026) and the Telegraph via Yahoo Sports (James Ducker, 15 Oct 2026); ESPN also reports the fine (15 Oct 2026). Carrick’s press conference quotes from The Peoples Person’s transcript (16 Oct 2026), with the “moved on”, “not a drama” and squad lines matched by AFP via France 24 (16 Oct 2026). The Shaw, Mainoo and Sesko lines come from the transcript only. Left out: the size of any fine, which hasn’t been confirmed, and Sunday’s kick-off time, which we haven’t verified from two sources.