Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has insisted that he has no plans to part ways with striker Anthony Martial in the January transfer window.
The France international has been demoted to a bit-part role at Old Trafford over the past couple of years, currently playing second fiddle to £72m summer signing Rasmus Hojlund.
Unlike the Danish starlet, Martial has scored a Premier League goal this season - netting in a 3-0 win over Everton last month - but he has failed to build on that opening contribution.
The former Monaco man was also named in the first XI for clashes with Newcastle United and Bournemouth, but he was the first player substituted in both matches as Man United slumped to two defeats without scoring.
Martial will enter the final six months of his existing contract in January, meaning that he will be free to enter negotiations with foreign clubs over a pre-contract agreement ahead of a potential exit on a free transfer.
Man United do possess the option to extend Martial's contract by a further 12 months until the summer of 2025, although a recent report claimed that the Red Devils have no interest in doing so.
As a result, the upcoming transfer window would represent Man United's final chance to recoup a nominal fee for the misfiring Frenchman, but Ten Hag has played down the prospect of a winter exit.
When asked if the 28-year-old could be pushed out of the door next month, Ten Hag told reporters: "When we have news, then of course I will tell it. But that is not our aim."
A mid-season exit for Martial would leave Hojlund as Man United's only recognised centre-forward, and while he has conjured up five Champions League goals, he has gone 14 games without opening his Premier League account.
Alternatively, Marcus Rashford could be shoehorned into a centre-forward position, but the England international has also flattered to deceive this term, only managing two Premier League goals thus far.
A move for an experienced striker in January has been mooted as Man United try to ease the burden on Hojlund, with Galatasaray's Mauro Icardi and Porto's Mehdi Taremi believed to be on the wishlist.
However, Inter Milan are said to be leading the race for Iran international Taremi, and Man United's chief operating officer Collette Roche has affirmed that the January window will be a relatively quiet one.
The Red Devils forked out £52.1m to poach Martial from Monaco in the summer of 2015, and the striker has a record of 90 goals and 55 assists to show from 317 games in a Man United jersey.
Martial managed an impressive 17 top-flight goals in the 2019-20 season, but he has managed just 19 strikes for Man United across all competitions since the start of the 2020-21 campaign and also endured an unsuccessful loan spell with Sevilla in the second half of the 2021-22 term. body check tags ::
