Anthony Martial looked to be leaving Manchester United in the summer after falling out with manager Jose Mourinho.
It all started when the French forward, who had been struggling for regular game time under the Portuguese, left pre-season training early to be with his partner for the birth of their son, Swan.
He failed to return to the United States for Manchester United’s remaining two friendlies, which angered Mourinho.
Amid claims he would be hit with a £180,000 fine, Martial took to Twitter where he wrote: “Thank you all for your messages. My little Swan is well, it was more difficult for the mum but thanks to God she is better now. I’m sorry but my family will always come first.”
This season Martial has again struggled for game time and is behind the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford in the pecking order at the club.
He did start for the Red Devils in their recent Champions League win over Young Boys however, and got himself on the scoresheet.
Martial will now be looking for more game time in the Premier League, where he is close to triggering a bonus clause worth £7.2million.
Back in 2015 the Red Devils parted with £36million up front to land the forward from Monaco, but included a number of lucrative bonuses the sweeten the deal.
At the time, Monaco president Vadim Vasilyev proudly announced: “The price for Martial is £57.6million but take into account this sum includes bonuses, which are very realistic.”
The most realistic of these bonuses requires Martial to find the back of the net 25 times in the Premier League before 2019.
His goal on Wednesday night didn’t count towards this tally, but the Frenchman has netted 24 times in the English top-flight since joining in 2015, meaning he is just one goal away from triggering the bonus.
The £7.2million will not go to the forward, should he score once more from now until the end of December 2018, with his former club Monaco set to profit.
Time is starting to run out on the clause however, as United have just 15 fixtures to play before it officially expires.
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