Anthony Martial rejects Manchester United transfer rumours by claiming exit reports are 'wrong'

Martial has fallen out of favour with Jose Mourinho but insists reports of an imminent Old Trafford exit are off the mark

Anthony Martial has dismissed reports linking him with a Manchester United exit (Getty)

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial has dismissed reports that he could leave for PSG in the summer, instead claiming that rumours he is on his way out of the club are “wrong”.

The 21-year-old became the world’s most expensive teenager when he signed for United from Monaco in 2015, in a deal rising to £57.6m.

The Frenchman made a bright start to his United career under Louis van Gaal, scoring on his debut before being named the Premier League Player of the Month in his first month in English football. But his career has appeared to stall since Jose Mourinho succeeded the Dutchman, with Martial starting just one Premier League match this calendar year.

Mourinho did promise Martial a start in the recent home match against Hull – providing he turned in a “magnificent” performance in the FA Cup against Wigan. Martial responded with two crucial assists, but that was not enough for Mourinho who promptly dropped him back to bench.

Subsequent newspaper reports claimed that a disillusioned Martial would attempt to push through a summer move to PSG, but the forward has moved quickly to rubbish such speculation.

The forward wrote on Twitter: “Don’t listen [to] the papers, it's wrong thanks. “Come on United.”

Martial, who has scored 23 goals for Manchester United since moving to the club in 2015, nevertheless faces a fight on his hands to climb back up the Old Trafford pecking order.

Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard have all crept above Martial in Mourinho’s favoured pecking order, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan – outstanding in the club’s recent 3-0 win against Leicester City – looks to have cemented his place in the Portuguese’s starting XI.

Mkhitaryan initially found life in Manchester difficult, but appears to have been rejuvenated in recent weeks after a spell out of the first-team, with Mourinho telling reporters that this decision was taken to “protect” the £27m summer signing.

“Sometimes we don't play players and we protect them and Mkhi [Mkhitaryan] was one of these players. He was being protected. And he was adapting,” Mourinho said after watching the Armenian international open the scoring against Leicester.

“And I could see not just what you see – because you see the magic things he can do on the pitch – but I also see other things that I want to see and Mkhi is playing really well.”