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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
David McDonnell

Man Utd chiefs wade in on crisis as Ralf Rangnick handed Anthony Martial order after spat

Ralf Rangnick has been advised to bring Anthony Martial back into the fold – with Manchester United struggling to offload the out-of-favour striker.

Rangnick claimed Martial – who wants to leave United - refused to travel with the squad for Saturday's 2-2 draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League.

That provoked an angry rebuttal from Martial, who took to Instagram late on Saturday to contradict Rangnick and insist he had never refused to play for United.

The pair have since met to discuss the situation, after United sources indicated Rangnick was encouraged to mend his relationship with the French forward.

Anthony Martial and Ralf Rangnick had a media spat over his lack of involvement against Aston Villa (Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Rangnick, who was missing injured forward duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford for the trip to Villa, was said to be angered by Martial's unwillingness to travel.

Without Martial, United were only able to name six outfield substitutes at Villa Park, with Rangnick putting two goalkeepers on the bench to boost the numbers.

Rangnick will face the media on Tuesday, when he is expected to explain the contradiction between him and Martial as a misunderstanding, in an effort to defuse the situation.

Should Anthony Martial start against Brentford on Wednesday? Comment below

Ralf Rangnick has been given an order to mend his relationship with Anthony Martial (Manchester United via Getty Imag)

United are happy to let Martial leave in this month's transfer window, but look to have priced the 26-year-old out of a loan move to Sevilla, his first-choice destination.

Although Sevilla want to take Martial, the Spanish club are unwilling to agree to United's request to pay all of Martial's £200,000-a-week wages, as well as a loan fee in the region of £7million.

Those financial demands have scuppered Sevilla's hopes of taking Martial on loan for the rest of the season, with the potential move now unlikely to happen, unless United change their stance.

Martial, who joined United from Monaco in 2015 for a fee of £36m, has failed to make any of Rangnick's eight match-day squads since the German succeeded Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Interim boss Rangnick has accepted Martial's desire to leave for more game-time, but the forward will only be allowed to leave on United's terms.

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