Anthony Martial claims his intentions were clear in January and no persuasion from Barcelona or Juventus could change his mind.
The Manchester United forward joined Sevilla on loan last month and it was always believed that other clubs — including Barcelona, Juventus and Newcastle United — were contenders in the race to sign the Frenchman.
Martial may have made himself unavailable to play under Ralf Rangnick, going AWOL in other to force through a move to Spain, but he was also desperate for more game time.
That’s why he decided to join Sevilla over Barcelona because they could guarantee him more game time. He was never going to get many starts at United this season after the signings of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo this summer.
“Barcelona did speak with my agents in January, Juventus wanted to sign me and they pushing – it’s true, but my priority was Sevilla,” Martial told Diario Sevilla, as cited by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.
He adds: “Here I’ve the chance to be a starter, to play regularly as I wanted.”
Martial made his debut for Sevilla over the weekend but struggled to have any impact.