It’s a fitting epitaph if the final image of Anthony Martial wearing Manchester United colours was of some fans applauding his replacement.
For ten weeks, Anthony Martial won’t be available. Many Manchester United supporters contend that he hasn’t appeared at all this season.
The once-sizzling Parisian is now fizzling out. Martial might never put on the United jersey again as he heals from surgery on his groyne.
If Martial returns as planned, his 16-week layoff will have ended. He might be available for the weekend visit from Liverpool and the midweek match away to Chelsea in early April.
After his sensational debut goal against Liverpool in September 2015, Martial became instant friends with the Stretford End and has since scored three goals at Stamford Bridge. More recently, he came on at halftime to impact Erik ten Hag’s thrilling opening victory of the previous season.
However, Martial is not a player that United would want in a close match. He was unsellable due to his injury, which kept him out of the transfer market for virtually the whole summer. He is unsellable because he has been ill and wounded throughout the whole transfer window. He’s turned into United’s Winston Bogarde.
Martial needs his contract fulfilled by United in order to empty his locker. In January 2019, they fulfilled their duty of care to him by offering him a substantial five-and-a-half year contract. Any medical expenses would be easily paid by Martial’s salary.
The 28-year-old missed 12 of the 30 games in 2021–22 before being loaned to Sevilla, while he missed 34 of United’s 62 games in the previous season. Due to a knee injury, he missed the final 14 games of the 2020–21 season.
Philippe Lamboley, Martial’s impeccably honest agent, stated last week, “Anthony has been in Manchester for nine seasons and if he was not a great professional, he wouldn’t have been at the club for so long.” Before him, Lamboley had sabotaged Jose Mourinho and Rangnick. Martial did not step in.
Lamboley must have forgotten that in January 2022, Ralf Rangnick had accused Martial of not wanting to play against Aston Villa. Martial publically challenged Rangnick’s version of events. That’s not very professional. Ed Woodward, who was so devoted to Martial that he openly defied Jose Mourinho, fostered that atmosphere.
Martial has averaged ten goals a season while playing at No. 9 for United in seven of his nine seasons there. He has managed just 19 goals since the 2019–20 season began. In his 12th game for the team, Martial’s opposite number at City, Erling Haaland, reached that milestone.
The season scoring figures for Martial are as follows: 17, 8, 11, 12, 23, 7, 1, 9, 2. Another £50 million wasted, Tony Martial was belittled.
His number is up, and he has never lived up to it. In December, a coworker of his at United sent a message saying, “Martial still there making money.”
It is a fitting epitaph if the final image of Martial wearing United colours is of fans applauding his replacement. When chants of “F— off Pogba” were heard from the stands at Old Trafford, Paul Pogba was last seen cupping his ear. Some also celebrated his removal.
The poster boys of the player power era at United, which Woodward facilitated, were the French connection. Both will eventually be made available. Martial’s extension is among the worst of all the foolish contracts that United has given out.
Two strong seasons out of nine is a very poor return. The best of Martial was the first. Against Everton in the FA Cup semi-final, he slotted in the first Fergie Time winner of the post-Ferguson era, stirring the spirit in a largely soulless 2015–16.
That remains the high point of this correspondent’s United coverage. Grown men piled on top of one another to embrace Martial during the exuberant celebrations of an FA Cup final for the first time in nine years and the potential end of a trophy drought. They engulfed him in them. Some who weren’t close enough stormed the press box and sang “Tony Martial came from France” with joy.’
That season, Martial won the annual Tuttosport prize and was the true Golden Boy. After that, Zlatan Ibrahimovic called him out, and Martial revealed his actual abilities. He broke down in the heat of battle.
A top United official stated that Martial’s “head was in the clouds” at the beginning of Mourinho’s first season in charge. He had split up with his firstborn daughter’s mother, who went on to have a kiss-and-tell with a British newspaper.
Martial hoisted the white flag while other strikers including Rasmus Hojlund, Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Romelu Lukaku arrived to wear the red shirt. Paradoxically, Martial got rolling and reached his greatest form of the career when things got hard for Mourinho.
In October 2018, Mourinho was as thrilled with Martial’s attacking performance at Stamford Bridge as he was with his defence. Martial scored two goals, but his boss gave him a pat on the back for coming back. Mourinho sprinted onto the pitch, brimming with pride.
That demonstrated how Martial’s mindset may match his aptitude. That day, with United behind 1-0, Mourinho yelled a directive to Martial, who turned and gave a nod. He scored twice. I got the message.
There was not much of this kind of character. In a 2017 preseason friendly, Martial left Real Madrid defenders scattered like a set of cricket stumps with his stunning dribbling skills. But he was stuck much too often.
Under Ten Hag, Martial made an early impression, scoring four goals and dishing out two assists in his first six games of the previous campaign. Only they were scattered throughout three months. In January 2021, Martial played the full ninety minutes of a Premier League encounter.
It’s important to remember when Martial signed his most recent contract: Lamboley said to RMC in France two hours after United initiated the one-year extension on December 17, 2018, “I am very pessimistic about discussions going positively.” They have already made a number of offers that are well short of our expectations.
Mourinho was fired the following morning at 9.45 a.m. A full forty-four days later, Martial’s legal representation disclosed information about additional documentation.
We won’t miss him.
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