Opinion | Anthony Martial and Jose Mourinho relationship reaches breaking point as wantaway Frenchman tweets after criticism
The Frenchman came in for criticism from his manager after failing to return to Manchester United’s US training camp
How do Manchester United solve the problem that is Anthony Martial? He’s an incredibly talented 22-year-old bought for big money and with two years left on his contract. But he wants to leave and has long wanted to do so. His relationship with Jose Mourinho has been the most strained of any United player and he started only 18 league matches last season, missing out on a place in France’s successful World Cup squad as he fell behind new signing Alexis Sanchez in the selection order.
Yet United don’t want to sell Martial, especially to a rival club who could afford him in England. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in him.
Martial cuts an unhappy figure, yet when I spoke to him last week in Santa Clara about something not related to his future, he was all smiles, laughing with his teammates. Similarly, when you speak to people who know him on the streets of Les Ulis on the Parisian periphery where he grew up, they speak of a happy, popular person.
Martial returned to Europe from United’s pre-season tour of America for the birth of his second child, Swan. United had no problem with this and Jose Mourinho is well aware of the importance of family. One rare moment of happiness on the US tour saw Mourinho congratulate his own daughter on her graduation. Mourinho is happy to let his family settle in London since he’s uprooted them numerous times as they’ve followed him around Europe. He’s not inhumane or from that breed of former managers who regretted not watching their children grow up because they were so immersed in their work.
