"My parents confronted me..." - Man Utd star reveals how bricklaying incident made him pursue football career

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez detailed a bricklaying incident that inspired him to pursue a career in football.

Martinez, nicknamed “the Butcher” for his uncompromising style in defence, had a stratospheric 2022.

The centre-back, who turns 25 today, secured a ​​£56.7million move from Ajax to United last summer, before winning the World Cup trophy with Argentina in December. It was his nation's first time being crowned world champions since 1986.

While he has been overlooked for a starting place at United in recent weeks, with Erik ten Hag having picked Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw instead, the Argentinian has generally been in fine form since his arrival.

Speaking to Inside United, the Old Trafford club’s official magazine, Martinez has discussed his upbringing in Argentina and his path to becoming a footballer.

Martinez confronted by father

Martinez explained that there was one incident in particular that help him decide to pursue a career in football.

Indeed, a frank conversation with his father directed him on a path that would eventually lead to Old Trafford.

Martinez explained: "[When I was] about 13, very young, my parents confronted me.

"My dad was working as a bricklayer at that time. He said that if I wasn’t going to play football, I wasn’t going to make anything of myself, that I should compare football to being a bricklayer.

"So he set that scene and, once my father took me with him. I remember that I had to be there at seven in the morning. And I overslept, imagine that!

"I got there for around 10.30am or 11am. When I arrived, my father just looked at me. I remember it like it was yesterday. He looked at me and said: ‘Do you realise that this isn’t for you? You need to have a career in football. Football is your thing.’

"And that’s when the penny dropped for me."