Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has revealed that want-away forward Anthony Martial refused to travel with the squad for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa.
Martial has made it clear that he wants to leave the club, with both his agent and Rangnick recently confirming that he has asked for a transfer.
“We spoke at length and he explained to me he has been at Manchester United now for the last seven years and he feels it is the right time for a change, to go somewhere else,” the United boss explained at the end of December.
Speaking after Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa, for which an otherwise fit and available Martial was a noticeable omission from the squad, Rangnick revealed the player’s refusal to be involved.
“He didn’t want to be in the squad. He would have been in the squad normally, but he didn’t want to and that was the reason why he didn’t travel with us,” he said on Martial.
Sevilla have shown interest in Martial, who has played almost 270 times and scored 78 goals for United since first arriving at Old Trafford from Monaco as a teenager in the autumn of 2015.
However, United rejected Sevilla’s opening loan offer due to the Spanish club’s dissatisfactory proposal with regard to what proportion of the player’s wages they would be willing to cover.
90min recently revealed that Juventus are preparing an offer for Martial and are set to open talks following confirmation that Federico Chiesa will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury. The proposal will take the form of an initial loan and option to buy, with exact details to be discussed.
For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!