Anthony Martial needed a move away from Manchester United as he strives to unlock his full potential.
That's the verdict from United favourite turned BT Sport pundit, Rio Ferdinand, who shared an honest assessment on the France international and his Premier League career as he prepares to sign for Sevilla on loan.
United have sanctioned the transfer and the 26-year-old has already touched down in Spain.
Martial still needs to undergo a medical at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadion and complete the necessary formalities.
However, after playing 269 games for the Old Trafford giants, scoring 79 goals and laying on 50 assists, the former Monaco striker is gearing up for a new challenge - at least until the end of this season.
Speaking on the latest episode of his Vibe With Five podcast, Ferdinand said: "I think Anthony Martial needs this.
"He needs to play first-team football, he needs to be a regular, he needs to start playing on a regular basis and on a consistent level. He showed glimpses throughout his career at Man United where you think; 'Wow, this kid could be ultra-special'.
"But then there's been times where he's been under-whelming and you thought; 'This isn't good enough'.
"Hopefully he improves [on loan] and it frees up a bit of space for Man United to go and get someone else."
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Ferdinand added: "I just feel with Martial he didn't move enough off the ball, he didn't make runs in behind, but he's quick. Sometimes you've got to vary the way you attack opponents and you can't always want the ball to feet. You have to vary the point of attack. I don't think that he did that enough.
"When you're going to build a winning team, you can't have people that are inconsistent in your team.
"It's about out-put and doing it on a consistent basis and I think there might be some sort of mentality shift that he needs, maturity maybe. Something has got to click from within for him to go on now and fulfil that potential that he has, because I think he's a fabulous footballer on his day, but there haven't been enough of those days."
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