On his Instagram story, Manchester United forward Anthony Martial denies refusing to be in the squad for the Premier League clash with Aston Villa. Manager Ralf Rangnick had earlier claimed that the Frenchman’s absence from the squad was the player’s choice.
Despite the recent managerial change, the environment at Old Trafford continues to be chaotic. In the latest episode, Martial and Rangnick seem to be at loggerheads with each other. Rangnick had named just eight substitutes for the trip to Villa Park, which ended in a disappointing 2-2 draw.
When enquired about Martial, the German mentioned that the player didn’t want to be in the squad:
“He didn’t want to be in the squad. He would have been in the squad normally. He didn’t want to be and that’s the reason why he wasn’t with us.”
As a result, the United bench was one player short of the nine allowed and both additional goalkeepers, Dean Henderson and Tom Heaton were included in the squad.
However, in an interesting twist in the tale, Martial has contradicted these claims.
“I will never refuse to play a match for Man United. I’ve been here for seven years and I never disrespected, and will never disrespect, the club and the fans.”
the French forward wrote on his Instagram story on Saturday evening.
Martial’s situation at the club is far from tense with the player wanting to force a move away for a long time now. In December, his agent Philippe Lamboley highlighted that Martial wanted to leave Manchester United in January in order to look for more playing time.
“Anthony wishes to leave the club in January .He just needs to play. He doesn’t want to stay in January and I will speak to the club soon.”
Lamboley told Sky Sports News.
Although the 26-year-old has a contract with the club until 2024, he has hardly featured this season. With the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho and following the breakthrough of Mason Greenwood, Martial has primarily been restricted to the bench. He hasn’t started a game for the Red Devils since the Champions League win over Villarreal in November.
