Arjun Menon
Anthony Martial once stood at the center of a very public dispute with Jose Mourinho after leaving Manchester United‘s 2018 pre-season tour of the United States to be present for the birth of his second child. What followed was a £180,000 fine and a manager’s criticism delivered directly to the media.
Martial, then 30, departed the squad mid-tour after his partner went into labor. Mourinho expected a swift return, but the French forward chose to stay in France during her recovery. The fine represented two weeks of his wages. Martial missed a 4-1 friendly defeat to Liverpool in Chicago and was absent for scheduled fixtures against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Speaking on MUTV after the Liverpool loss, Mourinho made his frustration public:
“He has the baby and after the baby is born – beautiful baby, full of health, thank god. He should be here and he is not here. Now we have Real Madrid, and after that we have Bayern Munich, and that is our start. I just hope the boys on deserved holidays, they take care of themselves a little bit and somebody wants to do what [Marcus] Rashford and [Phil] Jones do, which is to be back a little bit earlier to try and help the team because for the beginning of the season we are going to be in trouble.”
Martial responded without hesitation. The striker posted a direct message online that left no ambiguity about his priorities.
“Thanks for all your posts. My little girl is fine, for the mum it was harder, but thank god she is better now. Sorry, but my family will always come first. Back tomorrow in Manchester.”
The pre-season incident was not the origin of their friction. Martial later revealed the tension started the moment Mourinho arrived at the club in 2016 and stripped him of the No. 9 shirt to hand it to new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In a 2022 interview with France Football, Martial described the moment:
“It started with the story of the number. During the holidays, he sends me a message to ask me if I want to take 11, explaining to me that it’s great, because it’s legend Ryan Giggs’ number]. I tell him that I have the greatest respect for Giggs, but that I prefer to keep my number nine. When I return to the club, I see my jersey with the number 11; the story did not start well [laughs]. He disrespected me, straight up.”
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Martial left United on a free transfer in 2024 and played for Monterrey in Mexico, but currently he`s not officially playing for any club. The pre-season saga remains one of the more candid clashes between a player and manager in the club’s recent history. Follow TipsGG for continued coverage of Manchester United.