Disappointed, but not surprised. That was the feeling of many Manchester United fans last night when news emerged that Anthony Martial would miss the FA Cup final this weekend.
The French forward suffered an unfortunate hamstring strain in the final league match of the season against Fulham, the latest setback that has summed up his misfortune at the club.
It marks Martial's sixth injury just this season. He hasn’t completed 90 minutes in the Premier League since January 2021, and even if he had been fit for Saturday's battle with Man City, there would have been little expectation he'd have played the majority of it.
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That in itself is a fitting summary of his recent years at Old Trafford. At the age of 27, there is still a train of thought that the best is yet to come from the striker, but the brutal reality is that he is now in his eighth season at the club and highly unlikely to ever push on.
It also highlights how reluctant United have been to make ruthless squad decisions, given that they have persisted with Martial when any other elite team would have cut him loose years ago.
Erik ten Hag admitted just last month that despte his poor injury record the striker could still have a future at the club, and insisted that the team are better when he is on the pitch.
“It’s difficult to say because the history says different,” he said. “I want him to be because he’s a great player – he definitely has the qualities to play in top football – and when he is fit our team plays better.
“I think he can play across the front. For me, he’s best at centre-forward, but he can play in the wide position as well.”
Untied's problem is that those moments of fitness are growing further apart, and it would be foolish for them to ever think that they would get any better next season.
However, with Wout Weghorst set to leave at the end of his loan spell, the club yet to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, and the difficulty of signing an elite striker this summer, it is easy to see why there is a temptation to keep Martial as a back-up option.
That is the major recurring problem here. It is so easy to get lured into the trap and delay making a decision that needs to be made for the greater good of the team.
If United really are to become the best team in the world again, then they must start acting like it, and make ruthless decisions regardless of emotional attachment and nostalgia.
The FA Cup final could have been the perfect way for him to bid farewell to United, with the expectation of his sale this summer now even more of a certainty after another injury setback.
The Manchester Evening News revealed in February that United were aiming to sell Martial in the summer amid plans to sign a new long-term striker, though Ten Hag continued to back the forward, who has earned a reputation for being nomadic rather than notorious in front of goal.
Martial has scored just 17 goals across the last three seasons in a United shirt, and this summer the priority is to sign someone who can beat that tally, if not double it, next season. He joined United for a fee rising to £58million on deadline day in September 2015 but he has only broken the 20-goal barrier once in a campaign.
The former Monaco forward is under contract until 2024, and United have the option of an additional year, so the upcoming summer transfer window is a prime time to try and cash in.
Whether they do or not will prove if things really have changed.
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