Troy Deeney has expressed his disbelief over the fact that one Manchester United player is still at the club.
It’s expected to be a busy summer at Old Trafford, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS aiming to guide Manchester United back to the very top of English football.
There will be no easy fix for the part-owners and there is likely to be plenty of turnover when it comes to the current playing squad.
Erik ten Hag’s future is also in doubt after a poor run of form in the league, with the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Gareth Southgate and Roberto De Zerbi linked with a move to Manchester.
But there will also be key decisions made over certain players and Troy Deeney believes United have kept hold of one star for far too long.
Deeney can’t believe Anthony Martial is still at Man United
Speaking on Up Front, Deeney and Graeme Souness discussed Anthony Martial’s spell at Old Trafford.
“On big football decisions, they’ve given a masterclass on how not to do it,” Souness said. “They’ve got all of them wrong, from recruitment, from people they should be selling and I’m thinking one name springs to mind from five years ago, this has to be Martial’s last chance saloon moment and I think he’s had a couple of contracts since then…”
Deeney agreed with Souness and added: “If you’re looking at someone like Martial, let’s use him as a case study, I would look back and go who are the great strikers we’ve had?
“Who do the fans think this person needs to now emulate moving forward? He’s had more than enough chances. What’s it nine years he’s been there now? And he’s never going to score you goals…”
“I can understand why he’s still there because every manager in training coming in would look at him in training and go ‘cor, if he can get that onto match day then what a player I’ve got’. But he’s not capable of that,” Souness interjected.
Deeney added: “He’s never done that!”
Martial’s stats for United
Martial has endured a miserable few years at Old Trafford after a brilliant 2019-20 campaign under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Frenchman has failed to score more than six league goals in a single campaign since then.
This season, the £36 million man has managed just three goal involvements in 19 appearances for Ten Hag’s side.
It’s fair to say that despite showing glimpses of his brilliance, Martial just hasn’t lived up to his potential at United.
It feels like the right time for the 28-year-old to move on this summer, regardless of whether or not Ten Hag remains in the dugout.