Antony is one of three forwards Manchester United want to ease burden on Cristiano Ronaldo

On Monday, two forwards Manchester United invested more than £130million in are due to be beckoned through the Carrington barriers, both of them cut from their national team squads.

Jadon Sancho has struggled to endear himself to Gareth Southgate in past camps and Anthony Martial's last tournament appearance for France was in the 2016 European Championship. France and England have a surfeit of stellar attackers that ensures there are headline absences whenever there is a squad announcement. Marcus Rashford, like Sancho, has not played for England since the Euro 2020 final.

Sancho, 22, is one of the handful of players Ralf Rangnick had in mind when he opined there was a core group of top players in the United squad. Sancho improved on Rangnick's watch and played his best football for United under the German, only the purple patch lasted less than two months.

Also read:- United's stance on Martial's future

Historically, United have a predilection for individualists and that has been to the team's detriment during these fallow years. Bruno Fernandes was potent with stands sparse but rumbled with turnstiles reopened and standards raised and he is not aligned with the profile of midfielders Erik ten Hag is targeting. Sancho, earmarked by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United's priority target for the right wing, made his first start on the left and excelled there for Rangnick.

Sancho was another unwitting victim of Solskjaer's soft management, his start date pushed back to August 9 - the first week of the season - so there was no pre-season. Low on confidence after the gutting denouement to the Euros, he was dropped after three starts. Ten Hag should be grateful to Southgate for extending Sancho's England exile.

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