The turning point for Anthony Martial at Manchester United came under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and against Jose Mourinho

Two days after his Manchester United debut for the ages, Anthony Martial strolled down to the reception of the Pullman Hotel in Eindhoven to request assistance with the WiFi.

More than 70,000 United matchgoers had clambered over each other to embrace Martial after his clincher against Liverpool. Yet here he was anonymous, even in a striking red club jumper.

Martial has always been a man of few words and politely stood aside for this correspondent to enter the lift first. It was a rare occasion when journalists shared the same hotel as United on a European trip. As is almost always the case when one shares a condensed space with a recognisable personality, not a single word was exchanged.

Three months later, United's golden boy collected the Golden Boy award. Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Pedri and Gavi have been recent recipients. It is currently on display in Jude Bellingham's home.

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Martial stirred the soul in a largely soulless season under Louis van Gaal. His winner in the 2016 FA Cup semi-final - United's first contest at Wembley in nearly three years - was the first 'Fergie Time' winner of the post-Ferguson era.

While Martial was mobbed by several supporters, a handful too distant stormed the press box instead, singing, "Tony Martial came from France". The occasion, the goal, the timing and the celebrations encapsulated the essence of United and it was down to a raw 20-year-old from Paris.

Martial would have been worthy of the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year statue, only it was monopolised by David de Gea, the only United player with a world-class status at the time. Martial's auspicious first season suggested he would attain that status.

He never did. In Martial's final four seasons at United, he mustered 19 goals. He never played again for the club after the 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth in December when his removal was sardonically celebrated by thousands of United fans.

Time is a great healer and Martial was serenaded on his farewell by the singing section at the conclusion of United's lap of honour against Newcastle. He gave supporters great moments beyond his debut; the cushioned curlers from all angles, the slalom run at Fulham, the Gene Kelly feet against Watford, a hat-trick against Sheffield United. The scrutiny Martial's signing generated fortified a siege mentality immortalised in a chant.

Ironically, that section repeatedly chanted "F**k off, Pogba" on the midfielder's final appearance at Old Trafford against Norwich two years ago. Pogba paused, cupped his ear, and vanished down the tunnel, never to be seen at the stadium again.

Martial had been pictured in training in recent weeks yet was omitted from the FA Cup final squad. He was the only senior squad member not in attendance at Wembley. Even Tyrell Malacia was there.

It is a sorry end to a United career that was prolonged by Joel Glazer and Ed Woodward. Glazer refused to entertain Martial's sale when he wanted to leave in 2018 as he was his favourite player. Woodward was starstruck by marquee players until his final days in the boardroom, desperately attempting to claim credit for re-signing Cristiano Ronaldo.

Whenever Jose Mourinho noted there were players still at United that he had advised the club to jettison, most stories were accompanied by a picture of Martial. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy telephoned Woodward about Martial in 2018.

Two hours after United triggered the one-year extension in Martial's contract on December 17 2018, his agent Philippe Lamboley said he was "very pessimistic about discussions going positively. They’ve already made several offers that come nowhere near to what we expect.”

At 9.45am the next morning, Mourinho was sacked. Forty-four days later, Lamboley's agency prematurely announced Martial had agreed a new five-and-a-half-year deal.

Martial and his team felt empowered by United's infantile social media strategy. At the time of writing, there is no mention of Martial's departure on any of United's channels or the club website.

If Woodward was still in the directors' box, the plus-one option in Martial's contract might have been triggered. Instead, Martial and Pogba, the poster boys of the player-power era that United bent over backwards for, have both been released.

Martial had nine years of ultimate underachievement in Manchester. His seasonal scoring tally reads: 17, eight, 11, 12, 23, seven, one, nine, two. He enjoyed two truly good seasons.

Even the 23-goal contribution in 2019-20 has an asterisk as the continent struggled to flatten the Covid-19 curve. United adjusted to crowdless stadia impressively and were quickly exposed after that misleading and meaningless era mercifully ended.

Martial was enjoying a productive season prior to its shutdown, tallying winners in both league derbies against Manchester City. He was buoyed by the addition of support striker Odion Ighalo, which enabled Martial to manage his workload.

Back then, Martial was only 24 yet struggling to play twice a week. He later accused Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of "treachery". Martial was not the only player who felt Solskjaer had run him into the ground. The Frenchman last completed 90 minutes in the Premier League in January 2021.

Martial's United career never truly recovered from his expulsion for slapping Erik Lamela in the 6-1 shellacking by Mourinho's Tottenham three league games into the 2020-21 season. Martial mustered four league goals and missed the final two months through injury.

Martial was mentally brittle, as well as physically. He passive-aggressively changed his social media avatars to images displaying the number nine after Zlatan Ibrahimovic took it off him. Romelu Lukaku then inherited the '9'.

Edinson Cavani was bought to keep Martial on his toes but trampled all over them and he sought refuge in Sevilla midway through the season that Ronaldo returned.

Mourinho felt Martial's unhappy home life (his former partner did a kiss-and-tell to coincide with the opening weekend of the 2016-17 season) contributed to his subdued start under the Portuguese. Martial was accommodated in the starting XI in three of the ruinous Alexis Sanchez's first four league starts until he got injured. The pair were named in the same line-up only two more times nine months later.

The only season Martial broke the 20-goal barrier was when he regained the number nine from Lukaku. He lived up to his number that season but his number is now up.

After Martial underwent groin surgery in January, Erik ten Hag suggested he would return in ten weeks. Come the final week of the season, Martial was seven weeks behind schedule. He was absent for United's last four finals and only started in two of the eight they reached while he was at the club.

Some of Martial's collaborations with Marcus Rashford were elite, the zenith coming away to Norwich in 2019 when Rashford's backheel assist was trumped by Martial's dinked goal. A reporter opined to Solskjaer it was like watching Yorke and Cole. "Or Sheringham and Solskjaer," the Norwegian chuckled.

Rashford's brother, Dwaine Maynard, posted a Photoshopped image of Rashford and Martial in the Umbro kits Yorke and Cole graced.

Martial got going when the going got tough in Mourinho's final months with six goals in seven games, including a clinical double at Chelsea. Despite Solskjaer's soft touch, Martial was arguably more effective overall under Mourinho's tough love

Everton were Martial's patsies from his first encounter with Seamus Coleman in October 2015. Martial scored nine times against Everton, victims of his solitary league goals in 2021-22 and 2023-24.

A United career that started with a goal against Merseysiders ended with a goal by the Mersey.