If
you ask United fans what they remember of the French striker, you will probably get a hum and a grin in response. Some believe Martial received too much undeserved criticism, but as one of the club’s highest paid and delivers 90 goals in 317 games, as well as more and longer injury breaks, the Frenchman will definitely not get a place in the Red Devils‘ Hall of Fame. But the fact that the 29-year-old is a good businessman, no one can take that away from him.
At Manchester United, the striker and his agent had negotiated a weekly wage of £250,000. When the Frenchman stepped out as a free agent in 2024, he chose AEK Athens on a three-year contract. As the league’s highest paid player by far, with around 3.3 million euros in annual salary.
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After a relatively slow start in Athens, the Frenchman scored three goals in three games for AEK in November/early December. He finished with nine goals and two assists last season, but Martial has struggled to get minutes in the first team under the newly appointed Marko Nikolic, who replaced Matias Almeyda in June.
In fact, he was left out of AEK’s squad for the meeting with Anderlecht in the Conference League play-offs, and has only played 31 minutes so far in the 2025/26 season. Martial has now been considered redundant by AEK, reports Sportbible.
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Mexican side Pumas are interested in signing the former Manchester United striker to the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, with a transfer window in Liga MX closing on Friday.
-AEK are willing to loan him to Pumas for free (in exchange for them covering his wages), but Martial earns a gigantic salary, gigantic. They’ve been talking to him for three or four days, but the player still hasn’t given in to his demands. The reality is that Pumas are trying to get hold of Martial, but the player will not reduce by a single euro, says the Mexican journalist on youtube.
Then we will see if the businessman Martial chooses football and cuts in salary, or sit quietly and collect 3.3 million euros in annual salary until 2027, while he spends his years as a tourist in Athens.
