Sevilla rolled out the red carpet for Anthony Martial’s arrival to the club - with the presence of a genuine footballing icon.
Martial completed his temporary exit from Manchester United on Tuesday and he will now join up with the La Liga title challengers for the remainder of the season.
The Frenchman had made it clear he wished to leave the Red Devils after falling down the pecking order following the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho.
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick had remained adamant that a deal would only be sanctioned, if the Spaniards accepted they would pay the entirety of his wages.
After much deliberation, those demands were accepted and Martial is now set to link up with Julen Lopetegui, who coincidentally is on the shortlist to be the next United boss.
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First words: What Anthony Martial said after completing Sevilla loan switch
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Martial was welcomed to Sevilla on Wednesday morning where he met with the press and posed in the iconic red and white stripes for the first time.
And there was a genuine surprise for the Frenchman after he was sent a touching message by his idol Ronaldo.
The legendary Brazilian striker known as ‘Il Fenomeno’ was Martial’s idol growing up, along with fellow Selecao star Ronaldinho.
"My two big heroes were both Brazilian: Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, because they had magic in their feet!" he told United's official website in 2018.
"Just about every player from my age group back then would probably tell you the same thing."
So there was little surprise that Martial was forced to hold back tears as he was surprised by a message from his hero, while he was standing on the pitch at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
“Hi Martial, how are you? Welcome to La Liga and Sevilla! This is a big club in Spain and a big club in Europe,” Ronaldo said.
“They have incredible fans and play in a fantastic city. So I wish you all the best, and hopefully I’ll see you soon. Big hug, best of luck.”
United were happy to allow the former Monaco forward to leave the club this month, despite shelling out £36million on him back in 2015.
And Martial is excited to join up with his new teammates as they continue to battle on a number of fronts, including, perhaps predictably, another tilt at the Europa League.
“I wanted to come so I could play and show what I can do in the team,” Martial explained. "In the last few months I have been training a lot. I hope to be able to train soon with my teammates and work well with them to fight for the competitions we're still in.
“I'm ready to play. I trained hard to be ready and if the coach wants me to play, I'll do it now.”
He added: "Winning a seventh Europa League is a big aim. Also, the final is here so we'll do everything possible to win the cup.
“My aim is to play, help the team and that means enjoying myself on the pitch, and scoring and assisting. That's the aim for me these next few months."
