Anthony Martial’s wife has revealed the Manchester United forward was left ‘suffering’ during Jose Mourinho’s time at Old Trafford and admitted she felt ‘trapped’ due to what she perceived to be ‘injustice’ directed towards her husband.
Mourinho, who now coaches Tottenham, was reportedly keen to sell the Frenchman while in charge of Manchester United, but a transfer move was blocked by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
The Portuguese manager, who has previously coached Chelsea and Real Madrid, was sacked by Manchester United chiefs and Martial has been restored to the starting eleven under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scoring eight goals in 15 starts this campaign.
But his wife, Melanie Martial Da Cruz, has lifted the lid on what was a difficult time under Mourinho and revealed she used to purposefully avoid the Portuguese.
‘During our first two years together in Manchester, I experienced a very difficult period because José Mourinho did not play him (between 2016 and 2018),’ Martial Da Cruz told L’Equipe.
‘In these cases, Anthony shuts himself out. You know he’s suffering, but he doesn’t say it. I felt trapped in my sense of injustice because, as a wife, you can’t say anything (to the coach).
‘We’re just watching our man go down. I was experiencing it so badly that I didn’t go to certain events so as not to meet the coach.’
Asked if she ever considered attacking Jose Mourinho on social media, she replied: ‘No, never, because Anthony doesn’t want to. You have to stay where you belong. On the other hand, when he came in and scored, I wanted to scream out my pride.’
