Anthony Martial returned to training for Manchester United last week and was pictured training at Carrington.
Despite this, Martial did not even make the bench for the game against Burnley, with youngster Anthony Elanga among the substitutes once again.
What was unclear was whether Martial’s absence was still due to a lack of fitness, and if Elanga will drop out for today’s game against Wolves.
Ralf Rangnick’s press conference comments suggest if Elanga does drop out, it won’t be at Anthony Martial’s expense.
The interim boss said that as far as he is concerned, Martial won’t be selected while he actively pursues a move away from Old Trafford.
Rangnick told the club website: “He is not injured currently, so I decided to go with this group of players that we had in the squad. It had nothing to do with injuries.”
Discussing his chances of a move away, Rangnick explained: “He made it very clear that he wants to leave and in a way, I can understand his wish to leave and try to play more regularly somewhere else. But again, here, it is not only about what he wants to do but also a question of which kind of clubs are interested in him and do they meet the demands of the club? We have to wait and see.”
Elanga can profit from Martial stand-off
While obviously Rangnick could change his mind on Martial at any time, it seems likely for now that the manager won’t consider him for selection.
The reasons are this are not necessarily disciplinary, it will be because he feels Martial’s head is not at United, and he won’t put in a committed display and be fearful of getting injured.
Anthony Elanga can be the big winner from the situation, with the 19-year-old retaining his place in the side.
The teenager scored at a prolific rate for the under-23s and for Sweden’s under-21s last year and also netted his first league goal last season.
That goal came against tonight’s opponents Wolves, and it cannot be ruled out that Elanga gets an appearances from the bench this time and another chance to net against them.
Rangnick brought Elanga off the bench in his first game in charge, showing how highly he rates the youngster.
His emergence certainly makes the decision to discard Martial a lot easier.
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