A year ago Anthony Martial was a Sevilla player. Tomorrow night, he could be tasked with trying to knock them out of the Europa League for Manchester United.
The French forward has been in flux for some time now, yet he somewhat remarkably remains a United player, eight years after he joined the club from Monaco.
"50 million down the drain, 'Tony Martial scores again..." was the chant conducted by the United faithful to support their new star striker. It hasn't always been an easy ride, but it was heard again at Old Trafford last weekend when he scored the second against Everton.
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"Martial is France's biggest talent; in three years he'll be worth €100m. Hopefully, he scores many goals for United," Eric Cantona proclaimed a month after he arrived in England.
The 27-year-old has certainly delivered on the goals front with 86 across his 286 appearances for the club, but he has proven to be too brittle an option. The fact he is still on their books highlights just how poor their squad overhaul skills have been in recent years.
Erik ten Hag still insists his side plays its 'best' football when Martial is on the pitch. The reoccurring issue is that he has become synonymous with injuries, more so than injury-time winners.
The Manchester Evening News revealed back in February that United are aiming to sell Martial in the summer amid plans to sign a new long-term striker.
Until they get there, though, they are going to have to make the most of him. Starting tomorrow against the team with whom he struggled so much last season.
He had fallen out of favour at United last season and was finding opportunities increasingly hard to come by under former interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
His temporary switch to Spain seemed like a good move for all parties, as Sevilla went in search of a historic La Liga after a superb start to the season.
Martial had rejected an offer from Juventus because he felt it was the Spanish club that would be able to guarantee him the most playing time. It also helped that they agreed to cover his wages, though there was no loan fee involved and no option to buy when his five-month stay came to an end.
He was greeted in Spain with a hero's welcome, and even received a video message from Brazilian legend Ronaldo wishing him well as he looked to fire the side to the title.
Things started okay with a goal and an assist in his first three matches, but then things started to unravel for both him and his loan side.
Their form deteriorated, and their title hopes quickly unravelled. Martial was misfiring and quickly fell out of favour as the fans lost patience with him.
He managed one goal across 12 appearances in all competitions, with his sole strike coming in the Europa League. He also rarely featured during the final weeks of the season, having not been included in Sevilla’s squad for five of their final six league games.
Martial admitted it would be 'very complicated to be able to continue at Sevilla' and any hopes of a permanent deal were ended when club president Jose Castro ruled out a move.
"Anthony Martial will return to Man United. We spent important money on him but it didn't work," he said. "Also, he had injuries and we're not going to buy him on a permanent deal."
What looked like an opportunity to turn a corner ended up with the striker going in circles again. He was not fit enough, and even when he was, he wasn't offering enough either.
“Martial’s stint as a Sevilla player can only be described as a fiasco,” wrote Spanish outlet AS. “For the investment made, for the expectations created, and for the worse than poor performance offered.
“And the fact is that he scored the same two goals and gave an assist [when he was 18], but he did so playing 15 games in a team [Monaco] in which he had to compete for the position with players of the stature of Falcao and Berbatov.”
A year later, he is still hanging on at United as a player who can't be relied upon, but who the club still do.
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