Jose Mourinho does not know if Anthony Martial will return to Manchester United as doubts grow over the disgruntled forward’s future at Old Trafford.
Martial left the club’s pre-season tour of the United States to attend the birth of his second child in Paris, but the France international did not re-join his team-mates in the USA.
The 22-year-old, who has been strongly linked with a move away after his agent claimed Martial wanted to leave for more opportunities, was absent from United’s 2-1 International Champions Cup win over Real Madrid on Tuesday.
As United prepare to return to Europe ahead of their Premier League opener against Leicester City on August 10, manager Mourinho refused to give any assurances that Martial will return.
Asked whether Martial would link up with United, Mourinho said: “Anthony Martial? Is better for [press officer] Karen [Shotbolt] to answer if she wants to answer.”
Press further on Martial, Mourinho replied: “I don’t know.”
Mourinho was speaking after United held on to beat Champions League holders Madrid in Miami.
Alexis Sanchez scored his second goal in two matches to open the scoring before teeing up Ander Herrera in a sublime team move prior to the interval.
Madrid star Karim Benzema found the back of the net in first-half stoppage time and Madrid completely dominated in the second period, however, the Red Devils managed to end their US tour on a winning note.
“With the fantastic spirit we have in the majority of the players, I repeat: In the majority of the players, we have a fantastic spirit, we go with everything we have to the Premier League,” Mourinho said.
“In relation to the match [against Real Madrid], the match doesn’t change anything,” Mourinho added. “My professional players were amazing all pre-season because they know we play against good teams, against good opponents.
We have just a few players here, lots of kids, our kids are really, really young because the team of all the ones in the Under-23s were relegated, the team went to the second division. “So the game today, win 2-1, lose 2-1, draw 2-2, doesn’t change anything but of course I know the players I can count on, these guys are amazing professionals, they give everything for the club, for the prestige of the club, is not nice to come here and lose 5 or 6-1 versus Real Madrid today and they were phenomenal.”
Aziz Benaaddane, one of Martial’s coaches at Les Ulis, told the BBC in 2015 that as a six-year-old, Martial was able to run in a straight line to the goal: “We’ve got 400 youngsters playing for us but a talent like that arrives only once every five or six years. We felt it, we saw the potential and we pushed him”. 
Mahamadou Niakite, another coach, added that Martial was put in higher age groups, as at the age of six he had the ability of most eight-year-olds, and at around the age of 12–13 he was focused on becoming a professional.
According to journalist Philippe Auclair, Martial plays in a style similar to former French international Thierry Henry, with speed and technical ability both in wide positions and up front. Henry himself praised Martial after his goalscoring debut, while Martial himself refuted the comparison, saying “I don’t think we have the same type of game – he was very quick whereas I rely more on power and technique. But it’s always good to be compared to great players”.
In the aftermath of France’s 2–1 win over Denmark in October 2015, Fenerbahçe defender Simon Kjær was reportedly stunned after playing against him to learn that Martial was just 19. He told French newspaper L’Équipe, “He’s really good for 19. I didn’t know him when I was in France. He’s very, very hard to mark because he knows how to do a lot of things. Not only is he quick, but he’s also technically good.”
Martial, for his part, has said that he prefers to play up front, but that “if the coach puts me on the wing then that means it is better for the team and for me that is the most important thing