Manchester United curse, another forward injured for a long time

Manchester United have had a much more problematic 2023/24 season than they expected. They had hoped to improve on last year's performance and compete for major titles in England and Europe. But the opposite happened: the team's level was disappointing, they were eliminated from the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, and in the Premier League they are far behind leaders Liverpool.

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With this scenario, fans and the press have harshly criticized Erik Ten Hag as the main responsible for the team's failures. But he has an explanation for this: injuries. During the season, many important players of the squad have had physical problems that prevented them from playing and, when they did play, they did not live up to expectations.

Lisandro Martinez had to undergo surgery twice during 2023 for a fracture in the foot. Mason Mount cost a fortune, but has almost not been able to play due to several consecutive injuries. And they are joined by other less serious but equally problematic cases, such as Casemiro, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund. All of them at some point were out of the team due to injuries.

And now a new player has been added: Anthony Martial. The French striker has hardly played for Manchester United this season: he has played 63% of the team's games (19 out of 30) and most of them have been from the bench. That has affected his performances, as he only scored two goals and provided one assist. But now he won't even be able to play because he had to undergo surgery for a groin problem and will need at least ten weeks to recover.

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He was a bad business

Anthony Martial arrived at Manchester United in 2015 from AS Monaco for over $55 million. However, his performances were never satisfactory and he gradually lost his place in the team. Now he has less than six months left on his contract and everything seems to indicate that when the season ends he will not renew and will leave as a free agent.