Manchester United forward Anthony Martial will go up against his former loan club Sevilla this week.
Anthony Martial‘s return to fitness has come at an ideal time for Manchester United, while his former loan side Sevilla will be cursing.
United face Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford, and Martial is expected to have a key role with Marcus Rashford expected to be out injured.
It is a role reversal, and a chance for Anthony Martial to prove a point to his detractors.
Martial was heavily criticised
Anthony Martial pushed for a loan exit in January 2022, seeing no chance of regular playing time at Manchester United with Cristiano Ronaldo up front.
He arrived at Sevilla amid big fanfare, to an introductory video from his idol, the Brazilian Ronaldo.
This was designed to make Martial feel at home, with Sevilla hoping they would be able to tempt him away on a permanent basis at the end of the season.
By the end of the campaign, there was little appetite to keep Martial. Three separate injuries blighted his time at Sevilla, and saw him score only one goal, and he completed 90 minutes only once.
When he season ended last May, the Spanish press tore into him. Estadio Deportivo described him as ‘beyond disappointing’.
Sevilla spent £5 million on the loan deal in total, and the outlet added: “It is clear that his name will not go down in the club’s history. And it’s better that he doesn’t, because, if he does, it will be with the banner of one of the biggest fiascos in the LaLiga winter market.”
Newspaper AS had separately labelled Martial’s move as a ‘disaster’.
Martial has probably learned not to pay too much attention to criticism by now, but it might be helpful to Manchester United’s cause if he took some of the criticism received in Spain, personally.
He should be extra keen to prove a point this week. But of course, talent has rarely been in doubt. He needs his fitness to hold up for 90 minutes.
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