There is heartbreak for Anthony Martial as he has missed out on the France squad for Euro 2020.

Martial was not named in the expanded 26 man squad for the tournament, which was announced this evening.

Manager Didier Deschamps blames Martial’s knee injury for his absence.

Speaking at a press conference quoted by GFFN, Deschamps said he had intended to select the United forward.

Martial got injured for France against Kazakhstan in March.

He was pictured training for Manchester United on Sunday, and despite positive comments from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he did not make the bench for tonight’s fixture with Fulham.

Martial has been battling to get fit for the Europa League final, and has not been ruled out.

Solskjaer told his press conference Martial had ‘done all his rehab programmes and ticked all the boxes.’

 

Heartbreak

Martial was dropped from the France squad for the World Cup in 2018 and had just worked himself back into favour with Didier Deschamps.

He was called up into all of the Autumn squads, and provided an assist on his recent appearance before sustaining an injury.

Martial’s absence is offset by France recalling Karim Benzema for the first time since 2015.

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(Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Martial has had a poor season for United, scoring only seven goals after netting 23 the year earlier.

Another tournament absence will be a severe disappointment to him, but it will allow him to rest up and try and begin next season strongly.

At 25, Martial still has more tournaments ahead of him, but he will have to raise his game in order to make the World Cup 2022 squad.

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