Manchester United presenter Mark Goldbridge believes the club must cut ties with at least six more first-team players this summer – including striker Anthony Martial.
Goldbridge was speaking on The United Stand YouTube channel about the current state of the United squad.
So far this window, the club have let go of Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani upon the expiry of their contracts, but Goldbridge has listed a further six names that need to be shown the door, including Frenchman Martial.
He’s made 269 appearances for United since his £36m move from AS Monaco in 2015, scoring 79 goals and assisting a further 50.
But after just one goal for the Red Devils amid an injury-ravaged spell at Old Trafford during the first half of the most recent campaign, he was shipped on loan to Sevilla.
However, the Frenchman played just 12 matches for the Spanish outfit and managed to find the net just once as his fitness issues continued, and Goldbridge has called for the United officials to cut their losses by releasing the forward, as well as a number of his teammates.
He said: “As I said before, Phil Jones has got to go. Andreas Pereira has got to go. Anthony Martial has to go. Dean Henderson has to go. Eric Bailly has to go. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has got to go. So there’s six there that have got to go as well and that’s how you trim down a bloated squad.”
Would you be glad to see Martial leave?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Martial leaving United…
The 25-year-old’s £180k-per-week contract still has two years left to run but it would be fair to say that the £14.4m-rated striker’s future being in Manchester is unlikely.
How much would you want for Martial?
£15m-25m
£25m+
Since his highest-scoring Premier League season in 2019/20 (17), he has managed just five top-flight goals in 30 appearances.
His influence in the side has waned, and with United reportedly looking at bringing in star striker Darwin Nunez from Benfica, his days at Old Trafford are surely numbered.
It’s been seven years since Martial came from France, and after playing under Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it could well be Erik ten Hag who eventually wields the axe for good as he looks to embark on a major summer rebuild.