The Heavens opened in acceptance of a new hero at Old Trafford last September after Anthony Martial jinxed past some Liverpool players to score on his debut for Manchester United. There had been eyebrows raised when a teenage striker with the massive transfer fee of £58m with add-ons was bought .A new hero was born, and many people could only wonder at the level he was going to attain when he finally reaches the pinnacle of his career.
The spectacular emergence of Marcus Rashford in February meant LVG had to shunt Martial to the flanks, yet, he scored 17 times in a decent first season after a deadline day move from AS Monaco. He was instrumental as United won the FA Cup in May, as Martial scored the winner against Everton in the semi-final.
Then at the European Championships in his native France this summer, it seemed everything went downhill. No one knows what went wrong with Martial at the tournament. He was anonymous as the likes of Dimitri Payet and even Kingsley Coman were all preferred to him as the Didier Deschamps-tutored side finished second to Portugal in the tournament. It has been rumoured that the split between him and his now enstranged wife, Samantha Martial may have been the cause of his remarkable loss of form. The pair had been in a relationship for some time, though it is believed the marriage crashed as a result of the footballers apparent infidelity.
He came back to Manchester United after missing a part of pre-season. This was because of his exertions with his national team, as he was given more time off than some of his other counterparts. He has looked forlorn and his attitude is clearly irritating some United icons, such as Gary Neville who called him out after his poor showing against Arsenal. Mourinho isn’t a patient man and could be willing to move him on, as he looks to stamp his mark on the players at the Theatre of Dreams. The United hierarchy may however prove stubborn with such a move. They will be looking to recoup most of the £36m they paid for his signature, though it is unbelievable to find a club that will pay even £30m forthe 20 year old at the moment.
Martial isn’t simply interested in football at the moment and deserves his place on the bench permanently.
