Manchester United star Martial struggled under Mourinho upon the 55-year-old succeeding Louis van Gaal as manager back in the summer of 2016. The duo got off the wrong foot when Martial was left aggrieved at the decision to give his No 9 jersey to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who arrived from PSG.
Ibrahimovic was a Jose Mourinho loyalist and inherited his favourite number upon singing, much to Martial’s annoyance. The France international has previously insisted he has never had an issue with Mourinho. But, behind the scenes, things between the two heavyweights were far from smooth.
In the summer, Mourinho wanted Martial sold. But United chose to block the Portuguese’s attempts to offload the 22-year-old, thwarting a move for Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic in the process.
And the Daily Mail have now opened up on Martial’s reaction to Mourinho’s sacking. Mourinho was axed as United boss on Tuesday, just two days after the club’s chastening 3-1 Premier League defeat to Liverpool.
And Martial was said to be beaming at the club’s training ground shortly after the announcement. It is a reaction that sumps up how many United players felt about their manager.
Because Martial was not the only one to clash repeatedly with Mourinho during his time at Old Trafford. Paul Pogba loathed playing under the 55-year-old and, in the summer, was keen to join Barcelona. His determination to leave, however, has now supposedly sizzled out following Mourinho’s exit.
Other reports have claimed just two United players wanted Mourinho to stay. That was said to be both Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic.
Ultimately, however, United had no choice but to part ways with ANOTHER manager. Mourinho becomes the Red Devils’ third managerial crisis in five years after the previous departures of David Moyes and Louis van Gaa