Anthony Martial has denied the claim by Ralf Rangnick that he refused to be included in Manchester United’s team for the trip to Aston Villa.
Speaking after United’s disappointing 2-2 draw at Villa Park, interim head coach Rangnick said Martial ‘didn’t want’ to be involved in the Premier League game.
Martial has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford this campaign, playing just ten matches in all competitions, and revealed he wants to leave last month.
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Asked about Martial’s absence against Aston Villa, Rangnick said: ‘He didn’t want to be in the squad. ‘He would have been in the squad normally but he didn’t want to and that was the reason why he didn’t travel with us yesterday.’
But Martial has taken to social media to deny Rangnick’s claim and claims he would ‘never disrespect the club’ by refusing to play.
Martial has made 268 appearances for the Red devils since joining the club in 2015 in a £58m move from Monaco.
‘I will never refuse to play a match for Man United,’ the Frenchman wrote on Instagram. ‘I’ve been here for 7 years and I never disrespected and never will disrespect the club and the fans.’
Bruno Fernandes scored a brace to put United 2-0 up at Villa Park but late goals from Jacob Ramsey and new signing Philippe Coutinho saw Steven Gerrard’s team earn a point.
Rangnick said: ‘It is difficult to accept this result after being 2-0 up and in quite a few spells of the game, I think it was the best performance since I arrived.
‘In the first half an hour, we completely dominated and controlled the game on the ball. Defensively, we played compact and tight.
‘But again, when you are 2-0 up and throw away two valuable points, it almost feels like a defeat, but we have to look ahead and take the best out of it. In spells, it was a very good performance today.
‘We scored after 70 minutes, and 2-0 up with 20 minutes to play, we should be able to drive home with three points.’
The draw at Villa Park leaves United seventh in the Premier League – five points outside of the top four – while Aston Villa remain 13th, ten points above the relegation zone.
