Lisandro Martinez, the Manchester United football team player, tried to calm the intensity of his angry statements against the club’s management, through a new statement he published on his Instagram account.
The British news agency, PA Media, reported that Martinez accused the club of lacking ambition, during two separate interviews following Manchester United’s loss to Spain’s Atletico Madrid, 0-2, last Tuesday evening, in the Champions League.
Martinez questioned the club's contracting policy, and said in statements to CBS: “We (the players) bear responsibility, but I also expect more from the club. “I expect more, and I will not remain silent.”
Sky Sports reported that Martinez faced criticism from at least one player because of his statements during the team's return trip from Spain, although some of his frustrated teammates agreed with his views.
Manchester United has remained silent since the controversial statements were issued, which may expose Martinez, whose contract expires in the summer of next year, to internal sanctions, and also raise doubts about his future with the club.
In a statement he posted on his Instagram account, late on Wednesday evening, Martinez said that he made his statements “out of anger and frustration at not achieving the result that we all wanted.”
He added: “When I talk about wanting more, I mean the ambition that every one of us must have as part of this club. We must continue to develop, become stronger, and have all the capabilities necessary to compete at the highest levels. These are standards that we must all adhere to, starting with me.”
He continued: “I know that the responsibility lies primarily with us, the players, because we are the ones who must provide the required performance, and I am the first to bear this responsibility. We have to demand more of ourselves, and work together to return Manchester United to the top.”
He explained: “I trust my teammates, our coach, and everyone working to help the club move forward. I am convinced that the way forward begins with continuing to work together, and being ambitious and committed.”
The International Monetary Fund said that inflation expectations in sub-Saharan Africa have deteriorated since April, despite better-than-expected economic growth, warning that the region's hard-won economic gains remain fragile.
The Fund raised its growth forecast for the region in 2026 to 4.5 percent, compared to 4.3 percent in the April forecast, attributing this to adjustments in global supply chains and local reforms. However, this flexibility hides a deterioration in inflation prospects. The median inflation rate is expected to rise from 3.4 percent in 2025 to 4.3 percent in 2026, then to 5 percent in 2027. This represents a shift from April expectations, when the Fund expected price pressures to peak at 5 percent in 2026, before they begin to recede, according to Reuters.
“Monetary policy must remain data-driven, with a primary focus on ensuring that inflation is reduced to the target level,” Zine Zidane, Director of the International Monetary Fund’s African Department, told Reuters.
The IMF's report on the region, updated this week, noted that tightening monetary policy "may be necessary" in most countries, a tougher warning than when it described the situation in April as a "difficult budget process."
Interest payments currently account for about 12 percent of government revenues in the region as a whole. The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds also rose from 4 percent in late February to 5.2 percent by the end of September, which led to an increase in borrowing costs, despite the narrowing of yield spreads on sovereign bonds.
Zidane added: “Despite the narrowing of yield spreads, the cost of borrowing may continue to rise.”
The Fund warned that delay in debt restructuring may hinder countries' access to financing from the Fund, exacerbate debt crises, and make the economic adjustment process more difficult. Although Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia have made progress in restructuring their debts, these processes have taken years. Zidane said that preparing a new restructuring guide and models for memorandums of understanding would speed up the processing of future cases, noting that the International Monetary Fund is also offering its “good offices” to improve the exchange of information between creditors and debtors.
The pressures are exacerbated by the widening gap between countries that export basic goods and those that import them. The current account surpluses of oil-exporting countries are expected to rise from 1.6 percent to 4.4 percent of GDP, while the deficit of economies that do not depend on natural resources will widen from 3.4 percent to 5.8 percent, in a sharper contrast than expected in April. Bilateral aid is also expected to decline by an additional 12 percent in 2026, after falling by about a quarter in 2025.
The El Niño phenomenon, which was not a major factor in the Fund's forecasts issued in April, emerged as one of the main risks. A simulation conducted by the Fund indicates that this climate phenomenon, which could disrupt the agricultural sector and exacerbate the risks of food insecurity, could reduce the growth rate by half a percentage point and raise inflation by 2.6 percentage points by 2027.
Zidane said: “The situation may deteriorate to a greater degree than our current expectations indicate,” stressing that the Fund is “ready” to provide emergency financing through its programs currently in place in 18 countries.
