Anthony Martial’s future has been a hot topic of debate after the player’s agent, Philippe Lamboley revealed that his client was looking to leave Manchester United earlier this summer. The Frenchman was enjoying a profitable campaign for the club that he signed for in 2015 from AS Monaco, but the arrival of Alexis Sanchez in January of this year coincided with Martial seeing far less first team action. Jose Mourinho’s preference to start the Chilean ahead of Martial or Marcus Rashford alongside Romelu Lukaku up front has certainly caused issues within the United squad, with talks over a new deal for Martial stopping shortly after Sanchez completed his move.
Lamboley, who spoke with French media several weeks ago, suggested that they would not push for an exit from Old Trafford, and would honour the contract that United have with the player that is due to expire in 2019. At this rate, Martial may need to prepare for another season at the club, with the Daily Star revealing Juventus have pulled out of the race to sign him. The suggestion appears to be that the Bianconeri aren’t willing to meet United’s asking price, and could instead wait a year to sign the player when he is a free agent.
The only issue with that is that United currently have an option to extend Martial’s current deal by another year, which could further protect the club from losing out on any potential transfer fee. Given that the club seem less-than keen to jettison the player, it wouldn’t be surprising to see United’s board exercise that extension and tie Martial down until 2020, even if the player pushes for an exit.
It’s still a shame to see this turn of events, given the player’s obvious talent. Unfortunately, with Mourinho clearly having issues with the player and his temperament, it might be in the player’s best interests to leave Old Trafford this summer.
