Sevilla have finally succeeded in snapping up Anthony Martial on loan from Manchester United.
After initially blocking the Frenchman’s move to Sevilla earlier in the January transfer window, Manchester United have now come to an agreement with the Andalusian club that will see Anthony Martial move to Spain for the rest of the 2021/22 season.
The Frenchman had made his decision on his United future clear as early as December and Sevilla were the first club to make contact. However, the unwillingness of the Spanish side to take on the 26-year-old’s full wages led to the move being blocked and Martial suffering a little more in the background at Old Trafford.
In that time, an unlikely report about a swap deal with Barcelona for Ousmane Dembele started making the rounds as well as news about a few other clubs inquiring about the former AS Monaco striker. Martial now has his move completed, as he seeks more playing time ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar this December.
Martial will now join the LaLiga side – who will pay his wages in full in exchange for paying no loan fee to United – until the end of the season.
Martial will fly to Seville from Paris on Tuesday to undergo a medical at Sevilla, with a view of making his LaLiga debut after the international break.
Ronaldo’s arrival the final nail in Martial’s United career coffin
Martial became the world’s most expensive teenager when he joined United from AS Monaco in 2015. He had a blistering start to life at Old Trafford, making the Ballon d’Or clause inserted in his contract look like a stroke of genius from his former club.
The Frenchman has since slowed down astronomically due to injuries, problems with staff, and coaches preferring other players in his position. Now Martial, who has 79 goals in 269 total appearances for the club to date, has completely fallen out of favour.
This is due to the signings of Jadon Sancho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani, as well as the emergence of Mason Greenwood last season. Martial has started just four games for United this season.
European football expert Tom Williams spoke to Sky Sports Transfer Talk podcast about why Martial has been unable to hold down a first-team place at Old Trafford. He opines that Ronaldo’s signing affected his United chances the most.
“There are various reasons for him not having hit the heights that United would have hoped. There’s been a lot of instability since he came to the club. He’s played under four different managers, not all of whom have been his biggest fans – you think notoriously of Jose Mourinho.
“There’s obviously competition for places at United. I think one of the things that perhaps gets overlooked a bit is how unfortunate Marcus Rashford’s emergence has been for Martial, because they’re such similar players. But also you’ve got Mason Greenwood, you’ve got (Edinson) Cavani and now Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He obviously needs to move. Ronaldo arriving was probably the death knell for his United career as the first-choice centre-forward. You suspect that, for both parties, the best thing is for him to move on.”
