Martial starting to love football again at Sevilla after escaping Man Utd hell

ANTHONY MARTIAL still cannot bring himself to smile at Sevilla.

But after escaping his Old Trafford nightmare, Martial believes he is starting to fall back in love with the game again after signing for the Spanish club on loan.

The French forward built a reputation for being a grump as he went from being one of Europe's highly-rated teenagers to a Manchester United flop.

The 26-year-old said: “I had a lot of options but Sevilla was the option to play and to enjoy football again.

“I lost it a little bit in Manchester because I was not playing.

“I knew if I was coming here I would have the opportunity to play and enjoy myself.

“Sometimes you can see that I am not smiling. But in life you can ask everyone, I am always smiling.

“It doesn't reflect how I feel. I am just on the pitch trying to do my best.

“I'm playing so I am happy.”

Martial became the most expensive teenager in history when he joined United for £58million from Monaco in 2015.

But after failing to live up to the price tag during his seven years at the club, the Frenchman became an outcast during the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure.

And he pushed for a move during the January transfer window despite interim-boss Ralf Rangnick throwing him a lifeline.

Martial left soon after he was forced to deny Rangnick's claim that he refused to be part of United's squad for a draw at Aston Villa in January.

He added: “When Rangnick arrived my objective was to leave.

“He talked to me and said that if you want to stay, with the way you train you will play but I wanted to have a new atmosphere and a new club.”

But even with his relationship with the club turning sour, Martial jumped to the defence of Red Devils teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese superstar's demanding attitude was said to be causing unrest in the United dressing room earlier in the season as youngsters were failing to match his standards.

Martial said: “Ronaldo is a top player, everyone knows it. He is one of the best in history. “Everyone loves him.

“They have said a lot of bad things but it is not true. Everyone loves him in the dressing room and I know that because he was there and because I still speak with the players.”

Martial returns to England on Thursday as Sevilla try to defend their 1-0 lead against West Ham in the Europa League round of 16.

And he says he is focussed on winning rather than using the game to shut up his critics.

He added: “I don't care about what people say or think about me. I will just go there to win and to help the team to qualify.

“It is important for us to win this cup because the final is in Seville. We will do everything to win the Europa League.”