The inside story of Anthony Martial's Manchester United demise leading to Sevilla loan transfer

It was Sunday, March 28, 2021, and Manchester United's Anthony Martial started as France played Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier.

The stadium in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, was empty as the outside world continued to fight the pandemic, which meant it was only each nation's coaching staff and the players on the pitch that got to witness a moment of brilliance courtesy of Martial.

Just before the 20-minute mark, the forward picked up the ball in the opposition's half and stylishly pirouetted around a defender with his first touch of the ball before gliding towards goal. Martial then provided Ousmane Dembele with a chance to score and the Barcelona forward duly found the back of the net. It was an excellent way to open the scoring and it all started with Martial.

While Martial loves playing for France, his appearance for his country was about to turn into a nightmare. Shortly after the second half had begun, the player went down in visible pain. Martial received treatment, he tried to continue, but he was eventually brought off and his worst fear was subsequently confirmed. He had sustained a serious knee injury. He was out for the rest of the season.

Martial missed out on the final two months of the campaign, including the Europa League final, and he was ruled out of the summer's European Championship. Martial then returned to Manchester in late June as he continued his rehabilitation and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer provided an encouraging update on the player: “Anthony Martial has also joined us," Solskjaer confirmed just before July.

"But he’s not joined the team training yet. He’s recovering from the knee injury and that looks good."

Martial would need another four weeks until he returned to full training at