The Real Reason Why Martial Didn’t Travel To Germany For The Friendly Against Bayern
Reuters / Andrew Couldridge
Manchester United’s mixed pre-season came to a dreadful close on Sunday, when the Red Devils suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich.
While the post-match Jose Mourinho extolled the importance of putting the pre-season behind and focusing on the campaign that lay ahead of them, one fact in particular from the German outing has remained a vital talking point.
Anthony Martial wasn’t among the traveling squad to Germany to face Munich. Many viewed this as assurance that the Frenchman would depart the English club by deadline day.
This was also in line with reports suggesting that an unhappy Martial has been the subject of interest for the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, and Bayern Munich themselves. However, there may exist a valid reason for the exclusion.
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According to ESPN, Martial’s absence from the friendly was due to the fact that the 22-year-old had undertaken a double-training session at Carrington. Now, this begs the question as to why a player who is allegedly on the brink of departure would be training this passionately ahead of the season commencing.
A devil’s advocate would also argue that if his importance was that big, then perhaps playing him against the German giants this close to opening day could have also been an apt statement. Hence, the jury is still out on why Mourinho may have elected to do so.
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Recent reports have also suggested that running close into deadline day, both Chelsea and Tottenham have asked for Martial to be included in a swap deal in exchange for players United are interested in.
In case of the Blues, it is Willian that is being mentioned, while Spurs are predictably counting on Toby Alderweireld to land them the forward they have been quite heavily linked with.
With mere days remaining in the English window, where will Martial end up next week?