World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit has urged Anthony Martial to leave Manchester United, despite a request from the club's board.
United's hierarchy want interim manager Ralf Rangnick to bring the Frenchman, 26, back into the fold following his transfer plea.
Martial is keen to call time on his Old Trafford career but it's believed the Red Devils are struggling to complete a deal.
He still has two-and-a-half years left on his existing contract but hasn't started a Premier League game since the 1-1 draw against Everton at the beginning of October.
United want Martial's next club to pay all of his £200,000-a-week wages and cough up a £7million loan fee.
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Sevilla, the favourites to sign the player, are unable to afford such an amount and many potential suitors will be in a similar position.
Petit, however, believes Martial should find a way to leave United in January and restart his stuttering career.
"I understand that Anthony MartiaI represents a value for the club, but he is not happy there," Petit told Bookmakers.com.
"He shouldn’t come back to France though. When he left Monaco so young, to join one of the biggest clubs in the world and you spend seven seasons there, it's not all for returning to France straight afterwards.
"If I was MartiaI, I would make my mind up very quickly. There are links to Spanish clubs, he could go there. But, I still believe he has a future in the Premier League."
Martial has reportedly turned down the chance to join fellow Premier League sides Newcastle and Tottenham.
Speaking last month, former Republic of Ireland international Tony Cascarino urged mega-rich Newcastle not to sign the forward.
"Anthony at his best, yes - Anthony at his worst, no," Cascarino told talkSPORT when asked if Martial could help the Toon avoid relegation.
"I think there's a real talent in there that shows what he can do at times. I just don't think he has the consistency to be a worthwhile player for Newcastle during the second part of the season."
And former Aston Villa striker Frank McAvennie told United to sell Martial and take the financial hit when speaking to Football Insider last month.
"He’s never done that much, has he?" asked McAvennie. "I seem to remember him having a really good season in his early days there but that was four or five years ago now.
"Since then he’s hardly set the world on fire. I imagine he’s on massive wages and we all know he cost a fair amount. That’s fine if you are contributing every week and are scoring goals.
"Martial isn’t doing that and hasn’t done it for a long time. If an offer comes in I would let him go, at any cost. On a basic level, you can’t have players who don’t want to be there.
"It’s a recipe for disaster. Situations like this can turn ugly very quickly and they won’t want that to happen.
"Martial is earning big money, he wants to leave, he’s not playing, he’s probably upset, you have to let him go."
