Abhranil Roy
The internet has been rife with reports of Anthony Martial vexed, and apparently wanting to leave Manchester United, because the club had changed his shirt number without informing him. The Frenchman, who came for 35 million pounds last year, is easily one of the world’s most exciting footballing prospects. However, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the legendary Swedish striker who was signed by us a few weeks back, was assigned the number 9 shirt and Martial was handed the number 11 shirt. Now, this change was apparently not informed to the former AS Monaco striker, and it has reportedly pissed him off. Twitter went wild when Anthony even went on to unfollow Manchester United on the social media site.
Why was he vexed?
Over the summer, Martial has created an ” AM9 ” brand on social media, thus launching his new business which uses his initials and his squad number from last term. The 20-year-old forward announced his new brand on his social media channels by uploading new profile pictures on both his Facebook and Twitter accounts on Saturday.
On Facebook, Martial changed his cover photo to a picture of him donning the No 9 shirt during last season’s FA Cup semi-final triumph over Everton. Martial proved to be the hero in that match by netting a dramatic last-gasp winner to seal his side’s place in the final, where they went on to defeat Crystal Palace at Wembley.
The No 9 is emblazoned across all of the striker’s social media accounts and is even displayed in his Instagram username, Martial_9.
So obviously, after having spent so much time in creating a new business outlet, he has a right to be frustrated about this sudden change in squad numbers out of nowhere.
So, is he going?
No, despite the speculations, it is certain he is not going anywhere. The Frenchman has already followed back United on Twitter again, and has assured people close to him that he isn’t interested in making a move to another club. United should have addressed the issue carefully, but what’s done is done, and the 20 year old should try to prepare himself for the next season so that he can improve his performances wearing the number that the great Ryan Giggs dunned for so many years so successfully.
