Manchester United had a very disappointing show over the weekend, managing only a draw at Southampton FC, a side that’s expected to be in a relegation scrap this season. One of the main reasons for the disappointment was forward Anthony Martial, who greatly underwhelmed and appeared potentially disinterested.
We’ll cover him and Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who’s been heavily linked with United all summer long in this edition of MUFC transfer talk.
We start with Martial who has often been linked with a move away during the course of his United career. His name has popped up with the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal, PSG, Real Madrid, Juventus among others.
The Frenchman, signed from AS Monaco for 50 million GBP on deadline day 2015 (in a deal that made him the most expensive teenager at the time) blew scoring opportunities yesterday, and utterly flopped during what was his first start since March. He was so bad that he got the hook after just 58 minutes.
He has had his ups and downs over the course of his time at Old Trafford, but he’s certainly in a nadir right now, and it may mean his final season in a Red Devils shirt.
? “Martial will embody any reason why Ole doesn’t have any success.”
? “Man Utd have moved passed players like Anthony Martial now.”
?? “He embodies a period of Utd’s buying criteria that doesn’t reflect well.”@SJOpinion10 says #MUFC have to move on from Anthony Martial. pic.twitter.com/7HJIZSMf3o
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) August 23, 2021
The Sun outlined why he’s the odd man out in what is a stacked attack group.
The Frenchman forward is taking a lot of heat from a multitude of pundits all over the world right now. (see the tweet above) Jamie O’Hara called him “a lightweight” who plays “like he doesn’t care.”
Karen Carney said he “looked lost,” while Simon Jordan was absolutely scathing.
Alan Shearer called out Martial and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for starting him.
Moving on from Martial to Camavinga, ESPN report that United are still interested in signing the teenage future superstar, but realize that it’s unlikely to happen this summer. Camavinga, it is understood, has likely played his final match with Rennes, supposedly, but his future remains up in the air.
There are only eight days left in the summer transfer window.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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