Anthony Martial arrived for a ridiculous price and has outstayed his welcome - flop forward is a symbol of Man Utd's era of failure

It is fair to say that Martial would have been on few United fans' transfer wishlists in the summer of 2015, but after a busy window of arrivals and exits, it was revealed that United were pursuing a deadline-day move for the then-19-year-old.

Martial had had an impressive first full season with Monaco, posting 12 goals and five assists, leading to him being dubbed 'the new Thierry Henry' in France. Super-agent Jorge Mendes was called upon by United as a consultant to get the deal over the line, and Martial was given special permission to leave France's training camp during international duty to complete the move.

Martial had shown potential at Monaco, but eyebrows were raised across Europe when it was revealed United had agreed to pay up to £57.6m ($73m) to get him. United only paid £36m up front, but three clauses, worth £7.2m each, were inserted into the deal which would elevate the fee further.

The clauses ranged from probable and likely to surreal. The first one required Martial to score 25 Premier League goals between 2015 and 2019. Remarkably, that clause was not activated until October 2018. A second clause would be activated if Martial made 25 appearances for France while still at United. Martial remains on 19 caps for Les Bleus and it seems highly unlikely he will ever be picked for his country again.

The third clause, the most ambitious, would be activated if Martial won the Ballon d'Or by 2019. Suffice to say, Martial has never even been considered for the most prestigious individual award in football. In the end, United paid £43.2m for him in transfer fees.

Martial made his debut against Liverpool off the bench and scored a truly stunning goal, weaving his way past a dumbfounded Martin Skrtel before curling into the bottom corner to seal a 3-1 win. The Frenchman built on his dream debut by scoring twice at Southampton a week later.

He could not keep up that strike-rate, but ended the campaign with a creditable 17 goals in all competitions, including the winning goal against Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

He was also well-liked by supporters, who revelled in his underdog status and came up with a catchy chant for him, which went: "Tony Martial came from France, the English press said he had no chance, 50 million down the drain, Tony Martial scores again."

Martial's progress was disrupted by the sacking of Van Gaal, who had brought him to United, and the arrival of Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese signed his old Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which reduced Martial's role in the team and led to a squabble over the Frenchman's shirt number, meaning he and the new coach got off on the wrong foot.

“I tell him that I prefer to keep my number nine," Martial told France Football. "When I return to the club, I see my jersey with the number 11, the story did not start well! He disrespected me, straight up."

Martial started fewer than half of United's Premier League games in each of Mourinho's full seasons, and was openly criticised by the ex-Chelsea boss on several occasions for his performances and his attitude.

He did get off to a strong start in his second season with the coach, with nine league goals by January, but then felt disrespected when the club signed Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean's arrival further diminished Martial's playing time and he didn't score again for the rest of the season, subsequently missing out on the France squad for the 2018 World Cup.

“He [Mourinho] was talking about me in the press. He likes these games, but he also knows who he is doing it with," Martial said. "The second season, I was the team’s top scorer in the first part of the season, he brought in Alexis Sanchez and I hardly played anymore. It cost me dearly. I should have been there [at the World Cup]."

Martial must have been glad to see the back of Mourinho, and he scored in replacement Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first game in charge against Cardiff. He went on to sign a new contract in January 2019, and truly excelled the following season as a centre-forward, scoring 23 goals, his best-ever tally for the club, as well as contributing 12 assists - and that was despite missing almost two months with a hamstring injury.

Among the highlights were a strike in an unlikely win over Manchester City, a brace against Newcastle and a hat-trick against Sheffield United. He was also named United's Player's Player of the Season.

Martial has been dogged by niggling muscle injuries throughout his career, and he later revealed that he had continued to play while injured in the 2020-21 campaign. That led to his declining performances and he scored just four times in the Premier League.

“The last two seasons, I have regularly played injured. People don’t know that, I couldn’t accelerate during the four months following the Covid season. Solskjaer tells me that he needs me, so I play," he told France Football. “Given my game, if I can’t accelerate, it becomes very complicated. And I get criticised - the coach never bothered to tell the media."

Disaster then struck when Martial tore his knee ligaments while playing for France in a World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan in March 2021. "Obviously, I end up getting injured for good and when I came back, finished, I don’t play anymore," he added. “I took it very badly. I had a feeling of injustice. You are asked to sacrifice yourself for the team and behind you are dismissed. For me, it’s almost treachery. That’s all I hate. I can be blamed, but not for being fake.”

When Martial returned from injury, he faced an uphill struggle to get back in the team due to the return of Cristiano Ronaldo and the emergence of Mason Greenwood. And after making just two league starts, he sought refuge with a loan move to Sevilla for the second half of the 2021-22 campaign.

But his brief sojourn in the south of Spain was equally miserable. He scored just one goal and provided one assist, while he was fiercely criticised for his flat performance in the Europa League last-16 defeat to West Ham. Predictably, he also continued to be plagued by injury problems, leading to two spells on the sidelines in just five months.

Spanish newspaper Marca described his spell with Sevilla as "a failure" and he was booed by fans during a flat goalless draw with Real Sociedad.

Martial returned from his loan spell determined to fight for his place at United under a new manager, and he impressed Erik ten Hag on the pre-season tour of Asia and Australia to the extent that the Dutch coach petitioned against selling him.

Martial initially paid that faith in him back, setting up Marcus Rashford's goal against Liverpool in an early-season win and striking twice against Manchester City, albeit in the 6-3 drubbing. But Ten Hag soon started to realise what his predecessors knew all too well, that Martial could not be relied upon to stay fit.

When the forward was available, he invariably performed well and finished the campaign with nine goals in all competitions, including three strikes in the final two months to help United finish third. But a week before the FA Cup final against City, he tore his hamstring, missing the showdown at Wembley. It was the 29th match he had missed over the course of the season.

United would gladly have sold Martial in the summer, but no suitable offers arrived for him. And he was not fit enough to start the season either, forcing Ten Hag to deploy Rashford at centre-forward while he waited for new signing Rasmus Hojlund to recover from a back injury.

Martial did not feature much, but when he did, his very presence infuriated fans. He was greeted with ear-splitting boos when he came on for Hojlund in the defeat by Brighton and also got an angry reception when coming on against Man City.

He scored against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup and got his customary goal against favourite opponent Everton, but he has invariably been anonymous when he has played, with no power to sprint due to his accumulation of muscle injuries. He received widespread criticism for two lifeless displays against Newcastle and was equally poor in the humiliating 3-0 thrashing at home to Bournemouth.

Martial's miserable existence at United was summed up by an incident in September, when the striker turned up for training at the wrong time and left Carrington just minutes after arriving. It has become commonplace for him to be mocked in the media, too, with ex-Ireland boss Martin O'Neill claiming he had an "irritating demeanour" and "just seems to mope and moan". Club legend Paul Scholes, meanwhile, has said Martial "no longer has the heart to play for Manchester United".

Practically every pundit seemed to round on the striker after the December defeat at Newcastle. It was clear that Alan Shearer was referring to Martial when he said there were "too many bad eggs in that Man United team. Too many bad attitudes". And Roy Keane, as ever, went even further, suggesting Martial "may as well go down the leagues".

"United have been trying to get rid of him since a few years ago. You judge Man United on what they do in the big matches. If you can’t deal with that, maybe you’re not a Man United player," said the former captain.

Martial has not played a minute of football or even appeared on the bench since the defeat by Bournemouth on December 9. His long absence was put down to illness, although he attended the 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday, sitting in front of Wayne Rooney and family.

He has since resumed individual training, prompting reports he had been ordered to train alone by Ten Hag, although United have said that is not the case. But hopes of a quick return have been dashed by his agent Philippe Lamboley revealing he is to undergo hip surgery.

When he does eventually return, Martial is likely to play just a handful more games for United at best as his contract draws to an end. Ten Hag has indicated there is no desire to trigger a one-year extension, as the club have done with Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, leaving the Frenchman on the brink of free agency.