Manchester United are not taking the obvious route. Lisandro Martinez will not be dropped for Sunday’s trip to Leeds, despite a week in which he managed to drag the club’s internal tensions into public view after the 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid.

The Argentina defender went after the hierarchy, singled out recruitment and questioned the application of some team-mates. That tends to leave a mark. It reportedly caused friction inside the dressing room, and at least one colleague is said to have challenged him. Even so, United have decided this is not the moment to exile him.

Martinez has apologised after talks with senior figures at the club and is understood to have been fined. More importantly for Michael Carrick, he remains available as United head to Elland Road looking for a first win in six matches in all competitions. Pressure builds quickly at Old Trafford, and it builds even faster when performances and results are both poor.

Carrick was direct enough. “It’s done,” Carrick said of the Martinez saga on Friday. “We’ve moved on from that. It was one of those things. As a group we’ve moved on. It’s really not a drama for the group. The squad have trained really well and they are in good spirits.

“It was pretty simple. We understood the situation. Licha [Martinez] understood he made a mistake. We have a really good felling from the club. Results wise it hasn’t gone our way, but the spirit and togetherness, we can see in the group we want to do something with this situation.

“We’ve moved on. Genuinely. There is a freshness about the group. He [Martinez] is available.”

That is the official line, and for now it is the only one that matters. Carrick needs stability, not theatre. Dropping Martinez would have extended the story. Picking him closes it, at least for one weekend.

United are expected to restore Bruno Fernandes to his natural No 10 position after using him on the right in Madrid, an experiment that never looked especially convincing. If Carrick follows that plan, Youri Tielemans may lose his place, while Carlos Baleba and Kobbie Mainoo could anchor midfield if Mainoo is fit enough to return.