Lisandro Martínez is set for discussions with Manchester United officials in the near future, with his conduct and long-term future both expected to be on the agenda, according to a report.

The timing is significant. Martínez’s contract is due to expire at the end of the current campaign, although it does include the option for a further 12 months to be added automatically.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that November will bring talks between Martínez and United as both sides attempt to find an agreement over what happens next. Those conversations are expected to go beyond the contract alone, with his recent attitude and performances also likely to come under review.

There has already been visible tension. His tirade against Wilcox and the club’s recruitment made clear that Martínez is not entirely content with life at Old Trafford, and his red card against Chelsea has only sharpened the picture.

United now hold the key position, at least for the moment. Martínez can choose not to sign an extension, but the club still have the option to activate the clause and protect an asset who remains highly regarded, despite the recent noise around him.

The club have shown before that they are prepared to walk away from contract extensions when necessary, most recently in the case of Jadon Sancho. But the situation is different here. Martínez remains a regular in the first team and is understood to have admirers across the continent, with some of La Liga’s top sides monitoring him closely.

That makes the extension option appear the likeliest immediate step, but the longer-term outlook is far less certain. With United already planning a defensive rebuild in 2027, it is difficult to see Martínez still at Old Trafford beyond this season.

A sale will likely be explored, even if that means accepting less than market value. There is also the possibility of moving early, with a January exit considered feasible, although that would leave United short at the back unless a replacement arrives quickly.

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has suggested the club cannot dismiss the threat of relegation if their current run continues. His warning came as attention turned to United’s domestic form, with a sequence of nine matches without a win in all competitions leaving them 17th in the Premier League and outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.

Ten Hag did not frame the issue as a certainty, but he was clear that the league offers no protection to teams stuck in poor form for too long. “In the Premier League it’s certainly possible [that United could be relegated], because all the teams are simply strong,” he said. “They’re all strong squads, all good managers. And if you end up on the wrong side once and you really get into that vicious circle … yes, then it can become very, very difficult.”

On paper, relegation remains a possibility for every side in the division, even if the prospect looks remote for some of the league’s biggest names. The point, however, is that no club is immune. United have long sat among the Premier League’s leading teams, and even if they are no longer at the level they reached in the Sir Alex Ferguson era, their current position has brought an unfamiliar conversation into view.

There is precedent for a major club drifting into trouble. Last season Tottenham Hotspur, another member of the ‘Big Six’, survived by just two points with 10 wins from their 38 games. Even this year under Roberto De Zerbi, Spurs were bottom of the table after five games.

United’s own results underline why the warning has been taken seriously. They have already failed to beat Hull City, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United and Bournemouth, and their only league win has come against an Ipswich Town side that now sit four points ahead of Michael Carrick’s team.

Manchester United have once again settled into a familiar pattern, with Michael Carrick now carrying the burden of a club still searching for stability. As has often happened in the years since Sir Alex Ferguson left, early encouragement has given way to mounting concern.

Supporters may continue to point their frustration in other directions, but the manager remains the figure most likely to absorb the consequences when standards drop. Ruben Amorim understood that reality, even if his own failings at the club were more obvious. He is now in Milan, working to rebuild his reputation after leaving Old Trafford at the start of the year.

Amorim’s time in charge ended with one of the poorest records in modern United history. The question now is whether Carrick, whose own numbers have declined sharply this season, is in danger of sliding beneath that already low benchmark.

The comparison is instructive. Amorim oversaw 63 matches, winning 25 and losing 23, with a 39.7% win rate. Carrick, by contrast, has managed 33 games so far, collecting 16 wins, eight draws and nine defeats, which leaves him on 48.5%.

Amorim’s broader tenure lasted 14 months and included a strong run to the 2025 Europa League final, where United beat Athletic Club in the last four before losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the showpiece. Yet his Premier League record was weaker, with only 15 wins from 47 games and a league win rate of 31.9%.

Carrick’s early spell as interim boss in late 2021 went better, with two wins and a draw from three matches after Ole Gunnar Solskjær departed. Later, after taking over from Amorim in January, no team earned more points from the moment he returned to the Old Trafford touchline until the end of the season than United. They won 12 of 17.

That has not carried over into 2026/27. United have won only two of 13 matches, against newly promoted Ipswich Town and Champions League debutants Sabah. Carrick’s win rate has dropped to 15.4%, while their goal difference stands at -7 after three successive defeats by a combined eight goals.

The warning signs were visible last season. The Guardian reported that United earned 12.7 more points than expected under Carrick, with eight one-goal wins suggesting a run that was difficult to sustain. That fragility has now been exposed. A 2-0 defeat to Chelsea stretched their winless run to nine games, their worst such spell since October and November 1988.