After a bright start in Greece last season, Anthony Martial has fallen out of favour at AEK Athens.
Anthony Martial was released by Manchester United in June 2024 after spending nine years at Old Trafford.
The French forward became injury-prone and missed a lot of football in 2023/24, scoring only two goals before being let go by Erik ten Hag. He made 19 appearances and failed to offer any serious competition for Rasmus Hojlund.
However, Martial arrived at United in 2015 with high expectations and hit the ground running by scoring on his debut against Liverpool at Anfield.
Injuries would eventually hinder his development and Martial never became the player United fans hoped he would after arriving as a teenager.
Martial ended up signing for AEK Athens as a free agent following his exit from United.
Despite Martial’s bright start in Greece, registering 11 goal contributions in his first season, the forward now appears to have fallen out of favour at AEK Athens.
Anthony Martial playing against Hapoel Be'er Sheva FC
Photo by Stefanos Kyriazis/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Anthony Martial left out of crucial Europa Conference qualifier
A year on from joining AEK Athens, it looks like questions are being asked of Martial.
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AEK Athens announced the signing of former Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic, which has seemingly pushed Martial down the pecking order.
According to HLN, Martial will not feature against Anderlecht because AEK Athens have not registered the French forward for the Europa Conference League play-off.
This will come as a blow for Martial as it shows how far he has fallen after previously being recognised as one of the most exciting young forwards in Europe.
Now, Martial can’t get into AEK Athens’ squad for a Europa Conference League qualifier.
Interestingly, Jovic was targeted by United four years ago following a difficult first season with Real Madrid. United opted to sign Edinson Cavani instead.
Now, Jovic and Martial are teammates, but at AEK Athens rather than United.
Fitness concerns for Martial
Martial has been able to play just 30 minutes this season, but his exclusion from the Europa Conference League squad is a damning indictment of his current standing in the AEK Athens squad.
Since joining AEK Athens, the former United forward has missed seven matches due to injury.
AEK Athens manager Marko Nikolic may be trying to manage Martial’s minutes to get the best out of him throughout the season.
United fans won’t be surprised to hear that Martial has had issues with fitness since moving to Greece.