Manchester United greats tell Martinez to ‘grow up’ as feud rumbles on

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has been told to “grow up” by Old Trafford greats Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt after his scathing response to their criticism.

Martinez challenged Scholes to come to his house to speak to him after the former England midfielder and his ex-United team-mate Butt had mocked the Argentine’s height.

Scholes and Butt made fun of the diminutive centre-back’s chances of winning his duels with towering Manchester City striker Erling Haaland during Saturday’s derby.

The pair had joked that Haaland would pick up Martinez and “run with him”.

But Martinez had the last laugh with a commanding display in United’s 2-0 win, followed by his stinging response to the criticism from Scholes and Butt.

The former United duo address Martinez’s comments in the latest episode of their podcast The Good, The Bad and The Football on Monday.

Scholes praised Martinez’s performance but said he still has some doubts about the 28-year-old.

“It fuels people,” he said of criticism. “I think we have to take a bit of the credit for Martinez’s performance on Saturday.

“He’s had one brilliant game, but when you start talking and shouting your mouth off, this game has a habit of coming and biting you back.

“I haven’t changed my opinion yet. I’m still not sure you can win a league with him. He’s got to do it over a period of time. What he did on Saturday, brilliant, but you’ve got to do it over a period of time.”

Scholes claimed he had exchanged messages with Martinez on social media and given the player his phone number but had “not heard anything”.

And Butt said Martinez’s reaction to their comments raised questions about his mentality.

“It’s tongue-in-cheek, it’s obvious Haaland isn’t actually going to pick him up and run with him, it’s a figure of speech,” he said. “I think when someone gets so upset about something in the media or a podcast… to come out and say, ‘Come over to my house’, grow up.

“Literally, if you’re going to get so emotional about someone saying something about you, you shouldn’t be at a big football club because you’ll get that for the rest of your career at Man United.

“There’s no personal issue with us and Martinez, none.”