Martial accuses Mourinho and Solskjaer as French star slams former Man Utd bosses

Anthony Martial has taken savage beatings at former Manchester United managers Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, accusing them both of abusing him during their reign at Old Trafford.

French striker Martial became the most expensive teenager in history when he completed a transfer in September 2015 worth up to £58m (€69m ) from Monaco.

Signed by Louis van Gaal, he spent less than a year playing under the Dutchman, with whom he said he had "a great relationship".

Mourinho was Van Gaal's successor, appointed in May 2016, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was among the new boss's first recruits.

According to Martial, his troubles with Mourinho 'started with the shirt number thing', saying he unwillingly handed over number nine to Swedish star Ibrahimovic.

"During the holidays, he [Mourinho] texts me asking if I want to go to 11, explaining to me that it's great because it's legend Ryan Giggs'," said Martial at France Football review.

"I tell him that I have the greatest respect for Giggs, but I prefer to keep the nine. And when I return to the club, I see my shirt with the 11, the story did not start well. He lacked direct respect for me."

Martial says Mourinho, who is now Roma boss, started using "small phrases, a bit like he did with Karim Benzema at Real [Madrid]", when talking about Martial in the media.

“He likes these little games, but he also knows who he is doing it with. He knows that I was 20 then and that if I say something, I will be the one who disrespects me. ", said Martial. "So I said nothing, it was useless."

Martial refused to give up his place to another new signing, Alexis Sanchez, who joined Arsenal midway through the 2017-18 season.

“It’s World Cup season, and it cost me dearly in the end, especially since the French team won. I should have been there,” Martial said.

Mourinho was sacked by United in December 2018, with club favorite Solskjaer as a surprise successor.

France international Martial ended the 2019-20 campaign as United's top scorer with 23 goals, but then fell out of favour. He claimed Solskjaer mishandled him after that prolific campaign.

Soon after Solskjaer was sacked in November 2021, Martial was loaned out to Sevilla, where he scored once in 12 appearances, including nine starts.

Martial said he 'regularly played injured' during Solskjaer's reign, claiming the manager failed to clarify that to outsiders as he struggled.

"The coach never bothered to tell the media," said Martial, who remains a United player. "Obviously I ended up getting injured for good and when I came back I didn't play anymore. I took it very badly, I had a feeling of injustice.

"You're asked to sacrifice yourself for the team and then you're fired. To me, that's almost betrayal."