Man Utd refute claims of Anthony Martial exile with individual training programme explained

Manchester United have refuted claims that Anthony Martial has been essentially exiled from the first-team squad and forced to train by himself.

The French forward has not played for United since a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth on 9 December with manager Erik ten Hag citing illness as the reason he missed several games last month. However, asked last week about Martial’s availability, Ten Hag said he ‘was not fit’ to face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, while the player watched the game from the stands.

It comes amid ongoing transfer speculation surrounding the 28-year-old, who was not offered a one-year optional contract extension in December, unlike team-mates Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof and Hannibal. United are willing to let the player leave in January, and would even have sold last summer had a sufficient offer emerged. But Martial is reportedly happy to remain at United this window, despite being linked with moves to Turkey and France.

As the ongoing uncertainty around the player continues, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that the former Monaco striker has been ordered to train by himself in order to ‘improve his fitness’. The outlet also claim Martial has not trained with the team since picking up a bug in early December.

“Martial is currently not deemed to be fit enough to work with the first-team group at present given the intensity and work-rate the manager demands from his players in training,” the Mail report.

However, sources at United have rejected any suggestion that he has been exiled by Ten Hag and claimed it is standard practice for a player to work on their fitness individually after a long absence. Lisandro Martinez, Casmeiro and Mason Mount were cited as examples of players who followed a similar procedure recently, albeit they were returning from injuries.

Martial hasn’t actually missed a game this season due to injury, but struggled to maintain his fitness in Ten Hag’s first season in charge. The Dutchman even admitted last January that United’s no.9 needed to ‘work’ on his recovery from long absences. 

“He has to work on that. I agree, he has to be more available and he can do nothing for it in that sense, and sometimes also bad luck,” said Ten Hag. “Sometimes you don’t know what the reason behind it is but when he is there, he is really important for us because we play our best football when he is available. He has to be aware of that. If we want to be successful, we need him.”