Sevilla director makes honest admission about Anthony Martial's loan

Sevilla general manager Jose Maria Cruz de Andres believes Manchester United attacker Anthony Martial enjoyed his time on loan at the Spanish club despite struggling to make any sort of impact.

Martial, who will turn 27 later this year, joined the Spanish club on loan for the remainder of the 2021/22 season in the January transfer window. He had fallen out of favour at United and was finding opportunities increasingly hard to come by under former interim manager Ralf Rangnick.

His temporary switch to Spain was a good move for all parties and it was seen as an opportunity for Martial to try and get his career back on track. However, he made just 12 appearances for the La Liga outfit, netting one goal.

It was a hugely disappointing spell for the Frenchman, with his hopes of making progress disrupted by injury issues. He made a total of just 23 appearances in all competitions for United and Sevilla during the 2021/22 campaign.

But despite his struggles in Spain, Martial, in the eyes of De Andres, enjoyed his time at the club. But he has admitted that injury issues dictated his frustrations.

"Some players are able to adapt themselves immediately into the new team," he told Sport Witness. "We have experiences with the players we brought in the winter market. For instance, Ivan Rakitic, Gary Medel and Stevan Jovetic, we had him on loan, had quick adaptation.

"Some players need more time. I remember Dani Alves, who is an excellent player. He needed one-and-a-half seasons in order to be competitive.

"I believe that problem with Martial was when he was starting to adapt to the coach, to his system, he suffered some injuries. He was unable to have the continuity that he needed.

"I believe he was very happy and he thought it was a good opportunity for him. The injuries have been a problem for Martial.

"I believe he has enjoyed playing with us. I can imagine Anthony Martial has found that Sevilla would be a good club for him to have a new opportunity."

Last month, Jose Castro - Sevilla's president - confirmed that the Spanish outfit would not be pursuing a permanent deal for the United forward.

He said: "Anthony Martial will return to Man United. We spent important money on him but it didn't work.

"Also, he had injuries and we're not going to buy him on a permanent deal."

It remains to be seen what the future will hold for Martial under new United manager Erik ten Hag. He is poised to report back to Carrington for the start of pre-season training later this month.