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Anthony Martial is all set to leave Old Trafford this summer with his contract coming to an end after nine years at Manchester United.
Martial was brought to Manchester by Louis van Gaal, having joined United in 2015 from AS Monaco for a total sum of €60 million. Martial had being earmarked as a wonderkid in France after he made 23 goal contributions in 70 appearances for Monaco, scoring fifteen goals and setting up his teammates eight times.
This impressive Ligue 1 run secured Martial’s Old Trafford move and international football, with Didier Deschamps calling up the young forward to the French national squad. Over the years, Martial has made another 29 appearances earning a total of 30 caps.
Upon his arrival at United, the Frenchman has continued to make a name for himself, representing the club 317 times, netting a total of 90 goals across all competitions and setting up 47 assists. No United fan will forget the goal he scored for United against Liverpool on his debut for the club.
Over the past nine years, Marital has helped in securing United’s ever growing set of silverware, including the UEFA Europa League, the FA Cup, the English League Cup twice and the English Super Cup.
After 9 years at Old Trafford, Martial will leave the club on a free transfer when his contract expires in the summer. Earlier this week, Martial posted a fond farewell to the fans of the club, thanking the supporters for all their passion, loyalty and “unwavering support”. The 28-year-old continued by thanking all his team-mates, technical staff and member of the club before saying he’ll be following the “club’s results with passion”.
Although the Frenchman is yet to line up his next team, the forward is receiving a lot of attention from two top French teams.
Sky Sports News have reported that Ligue 1 teams Lyon and Marseille are looking to bring the player back to his home country. In the case of Lyon, it would be a return to the club where he spent his youth and where he signed his first professional contract. So it would be a return home to some extent.
Along with the interest in France, Sky Sports are naming other places and clubs interested in the French attacker. Turkish side Besiktas are specifically named as also interested in signing Martial.
The report states that the Frenchman has a lot of interest across the pond in Major League Soccer (USA) and Mexico, with interest also gathering from Saudi Arabia.
It’s expected that Martial will take time this summer to weigh up his options before announcing the next stage in his footballing career. In any case, it seems that he has a number of options that he can explore for where he goes next.
