Anthony Martial’s agent has felt compelled to defend his client following reports that he had fallen out with Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
Martial has not played for United since the 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth on December 9, but his absence had not been explained by the club. Reports then emerged saying the Frenchman had been exiled from the first-team group by Ten Hag as a punishment ahead of his departure from the club.
As Mirror Football reported, however, Martial has simply been placed on an individual training programme. Instead of being punished, like Jadon Sancho before his departure to Borussia Dortmund, Martial is working on his fitness like others including Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Mason Mount have before.
The 28-year-old striker is out of contract with United in June and there had been suggestions he could be sold in the January transfer window. However, Phillipe Lamboley has now set the record straight, insisting that Martial has a hip injury, has not fallen out with Ten Hag and has no plans to leave the club this month.
"What is said about him is completely false," Lamboley told Sky Sports News. "He was not excluded from the group and he has no problem with the coach. Anthony has been in Manchester for nine seasons and if he was not a great professional then he would not have been at the club for so long.
"He is simply going to undergo a small operation on his adductors, which he should have done for a while and which did not allow him to be 100 per cent, so he will do it now."
Martial is United’s second longest-serving player, behind Luke Shaw, having joined the club from Monaco in a £36million transfer back in 2015. He has scored 90 goals in 317 matches across all competitions, but has struggled in recent years.
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The Frenchman has been a peripheral figure in the past few seasons and has just two goals in 19 appearances this season. Martial was sent on loan to Sevilla in January 2022, but failed to impress with one goal in 12 games.
He signed a five-year contract worth around £250,000-a-week in 2019 and is now approaching the end of that deal. United have the option to extend his contract by a further 12 months, but are understood not to be considering that eventuality. Asked about the possibility recently, Ten Hag said: "I think that is an internal discussion between the club and the player."
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United plan to let him leave on a free transfer in June. Being in the final six months of his deal, he is allowed to speak to foreign clubs about a summer move.
He will hope to make a return to the pitch before then, given his last appearance saw his exit for Rasmus Hojlund cheered by the home fans in the miserable defeat against Bournemouth.
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