What one Manchester United player secretly told AEK Athens to do to “immediately” unleash Anthony Martial

Anthony Martial made a surprising decision to join Greek side AEK Athens after his Manchester United contract expired last year.

After the 2023/24 season concluded, Manchester United decided against offering Anthony Martial an extension and allowed him to leave the club for free.

The French forward joined the club as an exciting young talent in the summer of 2015 and he was an immediate hit at Old Trafford after scoring against Liverpool on his debut.

Martial would quickly become a fan-favourite at the club but things ended up turning around completely by the time his United career was over.

Heavily criticised for his injury issues, as well as accusations about his determination, Martial could rarely find consistency in his final years with the club.

This season, however, the 29-year-old has found a new lease of life in Greece. He has been avoiding injury and finding form in a new country.

Martial has netted nine goals and provided two assists in just 15 starts this season for his new club, who are delighted to see him succeeding once again.

One United player told AEK Athens how to unleash Martial

According to a new report from The Sun, those at AEK Athens do not believe it is a coincidence that Martial has been impressing for them.

In fact, those at the Greek club were told by one of Martial’s ex-teammates that all they needed to do was trust the player with regular game-time and he would “immediately deliver” for them.

“Based on our research and talks with other Man Utd players, his basic problem is that he felt a lack of trust,” one source from the Greek club told The Sun. “His confidence was damaged once he realised he would struggle to find regular minutes.

“One of them told us, ‘Don’t worry at all, once he plays and finds regular minutes he will immediately deliver. He’s a fantastic guy and works very hard in training’.”

Martial has unfortunately missed their last two fixtures with a muscular injury, but he will be hoping that he can return quickly and continue his positive form. If that happens, the former United player could be eyeing a return to Europe next year.

United’s striker issues have never been worse

It doesn’t feel so long ago that people were criticising Martial for not being a killer inside the box – ignoring his excellent ability to link-play.

Shortly afterwards, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who needed to press more after registering 17 goals in the Premier League in 2021/22.

Yet, right now, United fans would kill to have one of those problems back. Instead, at the moment the options don’t offer goals or help in general play.

Rasmus Højlund was hooked off against Everton for 17-year-old Chido Obi after failing to score in his last 16 appearances.

Joshua Zirkzee is the backup striker but Ruben Amorim does not see him as a centre-forward, instead playing him deeper as an advanced midfielder.

While Martial looks to get his career back on track in Greece, United still are having similar conversations about the level of their centre-forward, but this time it seems even worse.

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