Anthony Martial’s self-imposed exile from his Manchester United teammates is coming to an end.
Following the birth of his second child, Martial announced on his Twitter account that he’d be back in Manchester on Thursday to return to first team training ahead of the upcoming Premier League season. Martial left the Man United squad in the U.S. on July 25 to return to Europe but following the birth of his child, Martial did not return to link up with his teammates for the rest of the U.S. tour.
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Merci à tous pour vos messages. Mon petit Swan va bien, pour la maman ça était plus difficile mais Grâce à Dieu elle va mieux maintenant. Desolé mais ma famille passera toujours avant Tout... Retour demain à Manchester 💪🏾
— Anthony Martial (@AnthonyMartial) August 1, 2018
“Thank you all for your messages,” Martial wrote. “My little Swan is fine, for the mom it was harder but thanks to God she’s better now. Sorry, but my family will always come first. Back tomorrow in Manchester.”
Facing fines for potentially being AWOL from the team, as well as criticism from manager Jose Mourinho, there was some doubt that Martial would return to training at all, and would instead perhaps prefer a move to a new club. Sky Sports reported that Martial put in a transfer request with Jose Mourinho, and despite plenty of potential suitors such as Chelsea and Bayern Munich, there’s been no movement on that front.
In Martial’s second season under Mourinho, he failed to lock down a regular spot, starting 18 times in the Premier League while making 12 additional appearances off the bench. It’s unclear whether he’d be playing more this season, with Alexis Sanchez ready for a bigger role alongside Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku up top. Martial is coming off a rough summer as well, having missed out on the France squad, watching his teammates barnstorm at the 2018 World Cup to the title.