Anthony Martial has become the latest Manchester United player keen to leave the club for more prominence elsewhere, according to a report.
Martial is into the final year of his contract at Old Trafford, so is due to become a free agent at the end of the season unless the club decide to activate an option to renew his terms for another 12 months.
It seems the Frenchman has little intention of staying put, though, since Football Insider claims he no longer wants to be a backup option – and has realised that might mean leaving the club.
Martial was already behind Marcus Rashford in the running for a centre-forward role in Erik ten Hag’s system last season and has since been demoted further after the arrival of Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta in the summer.
Therefore, the report claims Martial wants to become the ‘main man’ – probably by joining a different club – since he is at an age (27) where he should be enjoying his prime years.
Where he could go isn’t entirely clear, nor whether he could leave for a fee in January or if he is more likely to run his deal down and leave as a free agent. In that case, Man Utd would be kicking themselves, since they invested a fee that rose to £44.7m, a then-record price for a teenager, to sign him from Monaco in 2015.
Martial has made more than 300 appearances for the club and scored 89 goals, but there would be a feeling of their money going down the drain by losing him for free.
Man Utd famously lost Martial’s compatriot Paul Pogba for free after making an even bigger payment to acquire him, so this could become a case of history repeating itself.
Martial out of favour under Ten Hag
As well as injury issues, inconsistency has overshadowed Martial’s Man Utd spell. He hit double figures of goals in his first, third, fourth and fifth seasons, culminating in a career-best 23-goal haul in 2019-20, but has failed to in the three full campaigns since (which also included a six-month stint on loan at Sevilla).
That said, last season’s tally of nine was his best since that 2019-20 collection. Still, it does not seem to have convinced Ten Hag that Martial is the way forward – or vice versa.
The fact that Martial is growing unsettled at Man Utd might not be too much of a disruption to Ten Hag’s plans, but it is another example of a player becoming unhappy with his treatment by the manager.
TEAMtalk has revealed that the ostracised Jadon Sancho is one of a few squad members unhappy that Ten Hag shows preferential treatment to some of his supposed favourites.
It appears Martial might feel deserving of fairer opportunities, which looks like it will push him away from Man Utd after a relatively long spell with the side.
