Frank Leboeuf is surprised the Manchester United star didn’t leave (Pictures: Getty)
Frank Leboeuf has warned Anthony Martial over his World Cup hopes and told him his compatriot he should have left Manchester United last summer.
Martial has endured a frustrating season with injuries limiting the forward to just one start for United.
The 26-year-old has at least impressed when he has been able to feature, scoring a brace after coming off the bench in the 6-3 Manchester derby defeat and scoring in United’s Europa League win over Omonia.
Despite this, Leboeuf cannot see Martial making France’s World Cup squad and says he should have left Manchester United last summer as he has ‘no future’ at Old Trafford.
Martial was heavily linked with a move away from United after spending the second-half of last season on loan at Sevilla, but Erik ten Hag reportedly prevented the forward from leaving, with Martial also keen to stay and revive his career in Manchester.
Leboeuf told FairBettingSites: ‘Anthony Martial won’t be at the World Cup in my view, there’s too many other options and players who are playing more.
‘He should have left Manchester United last summer. I don’t know why he didn’t, but his future is not at Old Trafford.
Anthony Martial has endured a frustrating start to the season (Picture: Getty)
‘Right now, it’s Marcus Rashford and if it’s not him then it’s Cristiano Ronaldo. We’ll see Martial in the Europa League, he’ll get some chances but probably only because Ronaldo is being punished.’
Leboeuf has also praised Manchester United boss Ten Hag for his handling of the Cristiano Ronaldo saga.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was axed from United’s squad after he refused to come on during last week’s Premier League win over Tottenham and left the stadium early.
On Wednesday, Ten Hag confirmed Ronaldo has returned to the United first-team and was in contention of featuring on Thursday night against Europa League opponents Sheriff Tiraspol.
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‘Ten Hag did well with Ronaldo, he was patient when they had the friendly against Villarreal but Ronaldo’s actions were completely disrespectful towards the club, the fans and the team-mates,’ Leboeuf added.
‘It’s also unprofessional and for it to happen again against Tottenham, I think you cannot do that, and he knows exactly what he was doing and wanted to show to the world that he was unhappy.
‘You see him shaking his head and acting up, but Ten Hag hasn’t dropped him from the squad to humiliate him, he’s done it for the good of Manchester United.
‘I always think about the guy who comes in to replace him, and it shows that Ronaldo doesn’t have any respect for him because it basically says, “I think I’m better than you.” Ronaldo had to be punished.’
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‘I don’t know why he didn’t leave.’