Anthony Martial is out of contract this summer and Man Utd were open to selling him in the January transfer window.
The January transfer window represents the last chance for Manchester United to secure a fee for Anthony Martial, who is out of contract at the end of the season. However, he is now set to leave on a free transfer after his representative Philippe Lamboley claimed on Thursday afternoon that he will see out of his deal at Old Trafford.
Martial swapped Monaco for Manchester in 2015 and he became the world’s most expensive teenager when commanding a £36million transfer fee.
He signed a fresh, minimum five-and-a-half-year contract with United in January 2019 and has been one of the club’s highest earners since, despite not contributing heavily on the pitch.
Martial has 90 goals in 317 games for United and his time at the club has been on a downward trajectory over the last few years, with the player struggling to maintain a clean bill of health. The Frenchman has spent more time on the treatment table than on grass and he was sidelined for the bulk of last season through hamstring, Achilles and back injuries.
Martial had the world at his feet when he exploded into the Premier League with an unforgettable debut against Liverpool in 2015, but he’s since become synonymous with injury.
To his credit, he had been available this term until missing the last weeks through illness. It’s understood Martial was absent from games during Christmas and New Year with that illness but he’s since recovered and returned to individual training.
Martial is not training with the main first-team group as he looks to return to full fitness and his agent also confirmed that he is struggling with a hip injury, which requires surgery.
Lamboley told Sky Sports News: “What is said about him is completely false. He was not excluded from the group and has no problem with the coach, Erik ten Hag.
“Anthony has been in Manchester for nine seasons and if he wasn’t a great professional, he wouldn’t have been at the club for so long. He is simply going to undergo a small operation on his abductors, which he should have done for a while and which hasn’t allowed him to be 100 per cent, so he will do it now. Anthony will not leave and will stay until his contract ends in June.”
Lamboley claimed Martial will undergo an operation but the club’s medical department is set to decide within the player’s best interest on whether that is necessary.
When considering those fitness concerns and that Martial’s agent claimed he will see out his contract, it seems highly unlikely he will leave United this January.
Although there was speculation in the Turkish media that Martial could be on his way to Istanbul, the MEN recently confirmed that there is yet to be an approach made.
There isn’t a list of sides queuing up for Martial and that’s not a surprise given his appalling record with injury. It’s been a shame to watch his career unfold and for his body to have become unreliable.
United are set not to receive a fee for Martial and that feels like an appropriate end to his disappointing time in Manchester.
