Anthony Martial arrived in Seville with a smile. It was on January 25 when he changed the Mancunian winter melancholy for the sunniest big city in Europe.
The Parisian gave a thumbs up for the images and seemed excited about his new stage as he showed off the surroundings of the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
Where had I been so much joy in Manchester?Perhaps betting just 209 of the 1,980 minutes imaginable in the Premier League up to the time of his departure was an explanation of why, and also why United left him on loan for the rest of the season. Sevilla covered his abundant salary, although there were no loan installments and no duties at the end of his five-month stay.
On the big screen above the stadium, Brazilian Ronaldo, one of his heroes, sent a message wishing Martial luck.
LaLiga supported the signing as much as Sevilla and saw it as a first, as Martial had other options. Juventus were interested in taking him to Italy, but he was looking for Spain. I felt like I would gain more minutes, and in a wonderful team. also.
Sevilla were then in LaLiga, with thirteen wins and two defeats in their first 22 league games.
But being knocked out of the Copa del Rey 10 days earlier by the city’s neighbours, Real Betis, had hurt and failed to progress from a winnable Champions League organisation that also included Lille, Wolfsburg and Red Bull Salzburg, achieving a win out of all six matches.
However, he had a silver lining: finishing third meant Sevilla would return to the Europa League, a festival they had won six times since 2006. And this season’s final would be played in his home stadium. They had also resisted Newcastle United’s attempts. to point to central defender Diego Carlos in January (the Brazilian has just moved to Aston Villa) and looked capable of winning the festival again.
“Sevilla make a big call every year that they hardly intend to sign permanently, and they never intended to buy Martial,” says Kenneth Asquez, a football intermediary based in Seville and close ties to the city’s two clubs. Look at Sevilla and Betis.
They did it with Samir Nasri of Manchester City, Stevan Jovetic of Inter Milan (both in 2016-17) and André Silva of AC Milan (in 2018-19). They hope that the great call will stimulate them. They also signed Jesus. Corona (from Porto) this year, but Sevilla invested more money in Martial than they expected because he had the challenge of having his great striker, Youssef En-Nesyri, go to the CAN (with Morocco) and he was missing the two-month component.
“They also looked so close to Real Madrid that they think they can fight for the title. To that is added that Barcelona was deficient (the Catalans were 9th in January) and Atletico (the champion) as well. That helped in the case of Seville.
Martial made his Osasuna debut on February 5, betting the centre forward on a 0–0 draw where new teammate Ivan Rakitic missed a beaten penalty.
“We are sad,” coach Julen Lopetegui said afterwards. His team may have moved to a point in Madrid, but this weekend it would be six away. As for Martial’s first fit with the Sevilla shirt. . . “Not playing much and little by little has to have compatibility in,” Lopetegui’s verdict on a quiet 77-minute performance.
Martial also in the next match, contributing and lending a hand in Elche’s 2-0 home defeat while playing as a momentary striker, and then in the next one he scored his first goal at Sevilla – the third in the 3–1 win in the first leg opposite the Croatians’ scale at Dinamo Zagreb in the first knockout round of the Europa League.
In the first 10 LaLiga matches, Martial could only have played, started seven, missed two due to injury and came into play in the other. He scored no goals, contributed only one hand and never played the full 90. And Sevilla were beginning to suffer: they won only two of the 8 matches in which Martial appeared.
When league leaders Real Madrid visited on April 17, they were part of a team that took a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes. Sevilla took revenge, had ruled at the Bernabeu in the opposite match in November and scored first but lost 2-1. They were flying in front of a noisy home crowd that saw Martial reserved to dissent after 39 minutes, then replaced due to injury two minutes after being thrown into a horrific challenge through Eduardo Camavinga.
Madrid bounced back and scored three goals at half-time, a winning goal in the 92nd minute through Karim Benzema. And with that, LaLiga’s last unbeaten home record and Sevilla’s few remaining hopes of a first name since 1945-46 have disappeared.
So, in fact, the martial arts season.
Of Sevilla’s remaining six games, he was not in the squad for the next three, played the last 23 minutes at home against Mallorca on 11 May and then again absent in the last two matches. Their season ended with a home win over Athletic Bilbao. making sure to finish fourth ahead of Betis, days after the city was filled with Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt enthusiasts to watch their groups compete for Seville’s beloved Europa League trophy.
“There’s nothing sinister, he was out of luck,” Asquez says of Martial. city, there is a challenge of mentality for Sevilla.
“They are used to being the kings of the city and Betis has been around for 20 years and doesn’t win anything. But this year Betis has challenged them all season and won the Copa del Rey. Possibly they would not admit it, but it has affected Sevilla.
The injuries, to Marcial, also bothered them.
“I told Monchi, whom I’ve known for 20 years, that Sevilla’s injuries are not normal. He agreed with me. Against West Ham in the Europa League (knockout stages), Sevilla played with six players from their team at the moment. His players fell like flies in a key component of the season, a mixture of COVID-19 and players who didn’t have enough time because there were so many games: Diego Carlos was an example. He pushed himself back for key games and was injured. Once again.
Others in Spain’s fourth-largest city are so lenient with a player that, according to big-name sports investment online site Spotrac, he gets a more consistent weekly pay than Mohamed Salah’s in Liverpool.
“I’m going to use the word ‘fiasco,'” Sevilla fan and well-known local radio journalist Manolo Martin told The Athletic. “And another: deception. This is how I would describe Martial at Sevilla. He scored a goal.
“There were high expectations of a Manchester United player and there was a lot of interest when he arrived. Enthusiasts have been patient with him. They said he had no compatibility in Manchester and would make his mark on the team, but they never got to the point where enthusiasts can just cheer him on.
“Sevilla has a club that revives the players. They come from bad times in other clubs, such as (signed in 2014) Ever Banega of Valencia. We expected the same with Martial, even if Manchester (United) had tried to revive his career, but they couldn’t.
Martin emits Martial’s perceived bad attitude. ” He didn’t seem committed to Manchester and here he bled on the pitch. He did not convince and Sevilla did not even think about looking to negotiate with Manchester (to sign him permanently). He didn’t take over sevilla’s shirt, he returned it.
His new teammates, according to Martin, tried to help. “He gained a lot of love in the locker room, but he didn’t give it back. Immaculate and distant. With the media nothing either. Interview with the official channels at the time of his signing there is still nothing in the press room, nor with the fans. There is general indifference to him, he didn’t even whistle. He didn’t play in the last few games and no one cared.
Sevilla have the fourth largest Spanish budget and finished fourth.
Martin describes his season as “bittersweet. We signed it with the concept of competing with Madrid for the title. Sevilla were in a moment and knew it would be difficult to compete, but I wanted to try.
“For enthusiasts, it hasn’t been a very smart season, but the club has made it to the Champions League for 4 years in a row, a smart purpose but still a bit disappointing. At one point there was a 10-point lead over Atletico and that gave us a cushion, however the last 3 months have been. The physical point has dropped.
Asquez is more forgiving, to some extent. ” Of course, Sevilla are disappointed with the way Martial has worked. It was a huge expense for them and brought only one goal, but those things happen. I’ve been told he’s an adorable guy with the players and staff and his good conduct.
“He kept a low profile because he tried with his ball, but I heard several times that he had no fire in his stomach, that he was hungry, despite all the skill in the world.
“I haven’t seen a singles game where I thought, ‘Wow, that’s what we get for a salary of 5 million euros. . . more taxes. ” I would have liked to play with him.
“It’s a shame that the season faded in the end, however, Sevilla’s budget is a quarter of Real Madrid’s, so let’s put that: I’ve noticed that Sevilla play in the current division.
“The only small consolation is that because you haven’t been in Spain for 180 days, there is a slight tax saving because you didn’t want to become a tax resident in Spain. I’m sure the manager is privately disappointed with what happened and my dominant feeling is sadness about it. I’m sure the accountants in Seville also inspired me.
Martial is 26 years old and his contract with United ends after next season, there is the option to extend it by one year.
United would be watching for delivery for him this summer. The days when he was the favorite of co-president Joel Glazer, whose circle of relatives owns the club, are long gone.
If Martial’s loan to Spain had worked, it would now have a resale value, but it doesn’t.
He is enthusiastic and eager to impress the new incoming coach Erik ten Hag. But the truth is, he hasn’t played well since 2019-20, neither in the sun nor in the rain.