yellow card in a 0–0 draw with Vitória de Guimarães. He received his first red card for Sporting in a league match against Porto on 7 October 2012, picking up two cautions within three minutes as Sporting fell to a 2–0 defeat. He scored his first goal for Sporting on 28 April 2013, netting the winner against Nacional. Rojo played mostly at centre-back in his first season in Portugal, occasionally at left-back, as the team had a comparatively bad season, finishing seventh in the league. In the second league match of the 2013–14 season, Rojo scored his first goal of the season, netting Sporting's second goal in their 4–0 win over Académica de Coimbra. On 19 April 2014, Rojo was sent off in a Primeira Liga match against Belenenses, but Sporting held on for a 1–0 win. In an improved season, he contributed six goals as Sporting finished as runners-up. On 13 August 2014, it was announced that Rojo was being disciplined by his club over his refusal to train after handing in a transfer request to force through a move to Premier League club Manchester United. Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho later alleged that third-party owners of Rojo who were not representatives of Manchester United had pressured his club into selling the player. Manchester United On 19 August 2014, an agreement to sell Rojo for €20 million (£16 million) was announced by both Sporting and Manchester United. The next day, United announced that they had signed him on a five-year contract, with Nani moving to Sporting on a season-long loan. Rojo stated that it was a "dream for me" to play with Manchester United. Rojo missed three matches for United due to difficulties in gaining a work permit, because of pending criminal charges in Argentina, where he is alleged to have had an altercation with a neighbour in 2010. On 4 September, he was granted a work permit by the UK Border Agency to work in England. Ten days later he made his debut at Old Trafford as United won for the first time in the season, playing the entirety of the 4–0 victory over Queens Park Rangers. Rojo was stretchered off in United's 1–0 defeat in the Manchester derby on 2 November, sustaining shoulder damage from a tackle on Manchester City's Martín Demichelis. It was later confirmed that he had dislocated his shoulder, adding to United's defensive injuries