Mercurial Anthony Martial reaches last stand at Manchester United after many false dawns

We have been here before with Anthony Martial.

Pre-season is often where the mercurial Frenchman has produced his best work. With the pressure off, a relaxed Martial can call upon his unerring ability to glide past players with little effort, just as he did during the 2017 friendly against Real Madrid when he left the likes of Daniel Carvajal and Luka Modric in his wake before bypassing current teammate Raphael Varane to set up an easy goal for Jesse Lingard.

This summer has been no different. Seemingly destined to leave Manchester United as one of the biggest disappointments of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, the French attacker has been the star of his side’s tour of Thailand and Australia, scoring three times while linking-up play with a finesse only a pre-season Martial can offer.

However, after the Lord Mayor’s show comes the dustcart. Other than one occasion where he became United’s first 20-goal-a-season striker in three years in 2019/20, the 26-year-old has remained the perennial frustrater.

Five managers, some of the most successful coaches in the game, have been left pulling their hair out as to why a player with so much talent can continue to flatter to deceive.

Louis van Gaal exclaimed he was leaving a “gift” for his predecessors when bringing in the then world’s most expensive teenager in 2015, with fans on board immediately after Martial’s debut goal against Liverpool, brought about by that effortless sashay past his man few can produce. Progress soon stalled.

Signs of an apparent lack of work ethic reared its head under Jose Mourinho the following season, with the oh-so-placid Portuguese more than happy to deliver some home truths, before Martial thrived in an exciting-looking forwardline during Ole Gunnar