Lionel Messi’s brutal criticism has led to new Wesghorst nickname among Man Utd teammates

Lisandro Martinez has admitted how Manchester United players call Wout Weghorst “bobo” endearingly after Lionel Messi’s criticism of the striker during the World Cup.

Argentina’s win over Netherlands was a memorable but bad-tempered encounter, which saw 15 yellow cards brandished by Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. The match went to penalties after it finished 2-2 in normal time following a dramatic Weghorst equaliser – his second goal of the game as a substitute.

Messi was spotted arguing with Dutch manager Louis van Gaal and his assistant Edgar Davids at full-time. He was then seen turning to double-goalscorer Weghorst during an interview and shouting in his native Spanish: “What are you looking at bobo (fool)? Get back there.”

Weghorst joined United on a loan deal for the remainder of the season in January and has played a key role for Erik ten Hag’s side, helping them to win the Carabao Cup and ensure they are still competing for three more trophies this season.

Martinez has told Argentine outlet TyC Sports of how he and other United players wind up the Dutch striker by calling him by that nickname of Messi’s criticism, and he has explained how that reflects the strong spirit within the squad.

He said: “Here we are killing each other all the time, he takes it well. I call him ‘bobo’ all the time as a joke, as do others. I would say to him ‘good morning, bobo’, I say ‘bobo’ to him, it’s already like that and he takes it well, he’s a good boy, we have a good vibes – and he is always laughing.”

Reflecting on how the pair reminisce about that particular match, Martinez added: “He feels that he played the game of his life, but he always stresses to me about the people of Argentina, about the fans, about how they supported us, he said it was crazy.”

Martinez has also said of club teammate Alejandro Garnacho, who has been called up to the Argentina squad for the first time: “The truth is that Garna is an excellent boy, with a lot of personality because he is 18 years old and is starting in a very big team and with a lot of pressure.

“You have to have personality, right? That’s what I like about him, he’s going to play as a starter or comes on with 10, 15 minutes left and that is when we can see the best of him.

“He also can score goals and he is tough to play against, with a bit of an edge to him. The truth is that it comes in handy, he has been taking good steps and is continually learning.”