Martial brands Mourinho disrespectful and Solskjaer treacherous

French forward Anthony Martial has launched a scathing attack on José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, accusing his former Manchester United managers respectively of a “lack of respect” and “treachery.”

The France forward moved to Old Trafford from Monaco in 2015 and impressed in his debut season under Louis van Gaal.

However, his form deteriorated significantly when Mourinho replaced the Dutchman as manager and has struggled to live up to his potential in the years since.

Mourinho included Martial among several players he described as “spoilt kids” and accused the forward of “lacking maturity”.

Now, Martial has hit back at the Portuguese manager, blaming him for his omission from France’s 2018 World Cup-winning squad.

“It started with the story of the shirt number,” Martial said in an interview with France Football.

“During the holidays, he [Mourinho] sent me a message to ask if I want to change to the No 11, explaining to me that it is great because it was worn by Ryan Giggs, a club legend.

 “I tell him that I have the greatest respect for Giggs but I prefer to keep the No 9. When I returned to the club, I see my name with the No 11, the story did not end well.

He [Mourinho] lacked direct respect for me. He talked about me in the press, little phrases, a bit like he had done with Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. He likes these little games, but he also knows who he is doing it with.

“He knows that I am then 20 years old, that if I say something, it is I who will pass for the young person who lacks respect.

“So I said nothing, it was useless. The following season, I was the best in the team in the first part of the season, he brought in Alexis Sánchez and there I hardly played anymore. It’s the season of the World Cup and it cost me dearly, especially since the France team won. I should have been there.”

Martial, who suffered an Achilles injury at the start of this season and has made only one appearance so far, also attacked Solskjaer, who replaced Mourinho as United manager.

The player claimed that the Norwegian refused to stick up for him after criticism of his performances despite knowing he was playing with an injury.

“I regularly played injured,” he continued. “People don’t know it, I couldn’t accelerate during the four months following the Covid season. The coach tells me he needs me, so I play. But, given my game, if I can’t accelerate, it becomes very complicated all the same. And I got set on fire [criticised by fans] . . . the coach never bothered to tell the media.

“Obviously, I ended up getting injured for good and when I came back, finished, I didn’t play anymore. I took it very badly, I had a feeling of injustice, you are asked to sacrifice yourself for the team and behind the scenes you are dismissed. For me, it’s almost treachery. That’s all I hate. I can be blamed, but not for being fake.”