Ruben Amorim handed immediate Man Utd blow after player suffers 'significant' injury before his first game

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim faces an immediate headache ahead of his first match in charge, with a key player suffering a 'significant' injury before even getting the chance to meet him.

Amorim, 39, started his new role at United on Monday and met with several senior players this week at the club's training base in Carrington.

United released footage of Amorim chatting to a number of players not called up by their respective nations for the current international break.

The former Sporting boss, who replaces sacked manager Erik ten Hag, was filmed speaking to Luke Shaw and Mason Mount among others, and was in good spirits – telling the players he planned to "have fun" in his new role.

But he already faces a potential problem ahead of United's next game against Ipswich Town on Sunday, November 24.

Amorim prefers to play a 3-4-3 formation with wing-backs, relying on three central defenders at the back.

But he could be without one of his most important centre-backs against Ipswich, with Lisandro Martinez now a major doubt for the match because of a hip injury.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that the defender had withdrawn from international duty with Argentina as a result of a "knock" he sustained in United's 3-0 win over Leicester.

Speaking to the media before Thursday's World Cup qualifier against Paraguay, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said he originally expected Martinez to be able to feature after calling him up.

But upon his arrival, Martinez's pain had increased and he underwent further tests that showed that he was "not fit" to play.

Meanwhile, Sportsmole has since reported the injury is "significant" and will keep Martinez out of the game against Paraguay and Argentina's next qualifier agains Peru on November 20.

"We didn't expect the case of Lisandro," Scaloni said [via Sports Witness].

"We saw that he had suffered a blow to his back, but apparently, he had no problem, just pain.

Martinez sustained the knock in the 3-0 win over Leicester (Image: Getty)

"When he arrived here, the pain increased a bit, he underwent tests and is not fit to be here."

Despite that setback, United fans will be optimistic Amorim can get off to a positive start after taking charge at Old Trafford.

"I feel ready for the new challenge," the Portuguese said at the weekend, after overseeing his final match as Sporting head coach.

"I'm not naive, I know it's going to be very different, very difficult. I'm at peace now. I can focus on my new job and I'm looking forward to starting tomorrow.

"I know it will be difficult to reproduce what I have here anywhere else but there are other places with different exposure and pressure."