Lisandro Martinez is having quite the impact at Manchester United - and not just because of his excellent defending.
After fighting his own battle to silence the naysayers following a difficult start to life in the Premier League, the 24-year-old Argentine is now helping one of his teammates kick on. Alejandro Garnacho, who could again be Martinez's teammate for Argentina at the World Cup later this month, seems to have struck up a bond with him at Old Trafford.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the Red Devils centre-back has taken Garnacho under his wing and treats him like a younger brother. Notably protective over his footballing compatriot, Martinez - who's not even been at United for four months after only joining from Ajax in late July - is said to be 'hothousing' the 18-year-old forward in a bid to ready him for life as a top-level player.
Garnacho has also received mentoring from none other than Cristiano Ronaldo, who notably handed him his hat-trick ball following a dramatic 3-2 victory over Norwich City last season. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has certainly had his fair share of misdemeanours of late but is still a shining example for rising Red Devils stars to follow.
The teenage sensation's admiration for Ronaldo is obvious, easily noticed by a series of Instagram posts calling the 37-year-old icon the greatest of all-time - despite hoping to play alongside Lionel Messi for Argentina - and a tendency to copy his celebrations, memorably in last season's FA Youth Cup final.
As the pair started together for just the second time on Thursday, it was only fitting that Ronaldo provided the assist for Garnacho's match-winning goal away to Real Sociedad, his first for the club at senior level.
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In the wake of that win, however, team-mate Bruno Fernandes made headlines by criticising the Spanish-born starlet's poor attitude in pre-season. It's since emerged that manager Erik ten Hag punished him by leaving him out for friendly matches, but with the help of Martinez and Ronaldo, Garnacho's on and off-pitch displays are both now heading in the right direction.
"I was not happy with him [in the early weeks of the season]," Ten Hag, who could hand his young prodigy a second successive start at Aston Villa on Sunday, recently revealed. "The last weeks I was happy with him, a better attitude, more resilience."
And after Thursday's victory in San Sebastian, the United boss added: "We have an extra player with Garnacho. He did well and I hope he can keep going in this process. He was reliable defending, he worked hard, he was a threat and he scored a goal so I am happy. If he can keep this process going, I'm really happy."
