Anthony Martial sets sights on return to Europe
Image Credits: Imago Images
Anthony Martial once looked like the most exciting forward in the Premier League, as the teenager who arrived at Old Trafford from Monaco in 2015, in a deal structured to make him the most expensive teen the game had ever seen.
After arriving for £52 million at only 19 years old, he scored on his debut against Liverpool and was named European Golden Boy that year.
However, what followed was a drawn-out decline. Across nine years and a procession of managers, Martial drifted from first choice to fringe, his finest campaign with twenty-three goals in 2019/20, unfortunately sat between long stretches of injury and quiet frustration.
He left as a free agent when his contract expired in the summer of 2024, endured a largely anonymous spell at AEK Athens, then crossed the Atlantic to Mexican side Monterrey for a reset that underdelivered.
Now that chapter has closed with the 30-year-old agreeing to terminate a contract that had been due to run until 2027.
His time with the Mexican side ended after one goal and three assists in twenty appearances on reported wages of around £2.75 million a year, a deal that drew sustained criticism in Mexico.
Now Footmercato has reported that as a free agent and back in Europe, Martial has made his intentions clear, he wants to return to Ligue 1.
Anthony Marital the league back in 2015 as a record-breaking teenager, and his representatives have begun offering him across France.
It’s understood his name was put in front of several sporting directors the moment the termination was confirmed, but his salary demands and collapsing numbers have cooled most of the early interest.
Only OGC Nice are yet to close the door, and even they are treading carefully, needing to trim their wage bill before any move could realistically advance.
Beyond Nice, Martial’s camp is understood to have explored interest from Paris FC and Troyes, though neither link has hardened into anything concrete.
For a player who arrived as the most expensive teenager football had seen, scrapping for a mid-table contract, or dropping a division to find regular football, is a stark measure of how far he’s come since Old Trafford.
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