Erik ten Hag faces a difficult decision over what to do with Anthony Martial, with the Manchester United forward having failed to make any impact during his loan spell at Sevilla.
The incoming Red Devils manager is keen to raise funds and selling players is his best chance of doing so. The 52-year-old has big plans for the squad while several areas of the team need to be bolstered.
A striker is one of the priorities as well as a defensively-minded midfielder and Martial might be one of the players allowed to leave in order to boost the funds necessary. However, selling the 26-year-old might prove difficult after a miserable campaign for the forward.
After losing his first-team spot at United earlier in the season, he was allowed to join Sevilla on loan in January. The move was designed to help Martial restore his confidence and form before returning to Old Trafford in the summer.
However, the loan has completely failed and the forward was little more than a bit-part player at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, making just nine appearances in La Liga. In total, he managed just one goal - a strike against Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League.
Sevilla insider Manolo Martin explained to The Athletic that Martial was cold and distant with his team-mates, and claimed nobody cared when he didn't play in any of the club's final games of the season. "He was given a lot of love from the dressing room, but he didn’t give it back," Martin said.
"He was cold and distant. Nothing with the media either. An interview with the official channels when he signed but nothing in the press room, nor with the supporters. There was complete indifference to him – he wasn’t even whistled. He didn’t play in the final games and nobody cared.”
Sevilla were eventually knocked out by West Ham out of that competition in a match where Martial was heavily criticised for his performance back in Spain. In the last six games of the La Liga season, the France international was handed just 23 minutes of action and was not even in the squad.
In truth, he was not missed and his departure in the summer will not cause any problems at Sevilla, where they might be happy to see him leave and save themselves the wages. For a club looking to sell Martial in the summer, that is not good news.
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Martial is out of contract in a year's time but United hold the option to extend that deal for a further year. However, with his resale value dropping like a stone, Ten Hag has to decide quickly whether to try and revitalise the Frenchman's career or cut him loose in a desperate bid to recoup some sort of transfer fee.
It might mean that the Red Devils will have to drop their valuation drastically to have any chance of finding a suitor for the former Monaco man. What that price could be remains to be seen, but there has been little interest in his services so far.
United are desperate to bolster their strike force in the summer in a clear indication that they have already made their mind up over Martial. Several players have been linked including Richarlison, Darwin Nunez and Arnaut Danjuma.
