History is repeating itself at Manchester United with Anthony Martial

Anthony Martial will be missing for 10 weeks. Plenty of Manchester United supporters would argue he has been missing all season.

The Parisian who once sizzled is fizzling out. Martial may never pull on the United shirt again now he is recovering from groin surgery.

Should Martial return on schedule, his overall lay-off will have totalled 16 weeks. He could be available for the midweek fixture away to Chelsea in early April and the visit of Liverpool at the weekend.

Martial has scored at Stamford Bridge three times and immediately bonded with the Stretford End with that uproarious debut goal against Liverpool in September 2015. More recently, he emerged at half-time to influence the outcome of last season's uplifting first win under Erik ten Hag.

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Yet Martial is not a player United would want on their side in a run-in. He was injured for almost the entirety of the summer transfer window and was unsellable. He has been unwell and injured for the entirety of this transfer window and is unsellable. He has become the Winston Bogarde of United.

United should pay up Martial's contract so he can clear out his locker. They showed their duty of care to him when he received a generous five-and-a-half year contract in January 2019. Martial's salary would comfortably cover any medical bills.

The 28-year-old was absent for 34 of United's 62 games last season and he missed 12 of the 30 matches in 2021-22 before he was loaned to Sevilla. He was unavailable for the last 14 matches of 2020-21 with a knee injury.

"Anthony has been in Manchester for nine