Graeme Souness uses Anthony Martial's big-money transfer to highlight Man Utd woes

Anthony Martial cost Manchester United £36million nine years ago - and they were paying the French striker £250,000 per week for the final few years of his contract

The fact that Anthony Martial spent nine years as a Manchester United player shows how far the club has fallen in recent years, according to Graeme Souness.

Martial left United at the end of June as a free agent after his contract expired. He joined the club back in 2015 from Monaco as a teenager for an initial £36million, with the fee potentially rising as high as £57.6m. The Frenchman managed 90 goals in 317 games for United, but struggled for consistency over the years.

He has now joined AEK Athens after a summer in which major European sides decided not to go for him. Martial was earning £250,000 per week during his final years at United and former Liverpool captain Souness thinks his example sums up the missteps at the club since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure as manager.

“In his nine seasons at Manchester United, no player better captured the club's malaise. He is the best example of where they have gone wrong,” Souness wrote for the Daily Mail. “I said about four years ago, entering a new season, that it had to be Martial's last-chance saloon. I cannot believe it was only this summer that he finally left the club.”

Souness believes that Martial was a good trainer, but failed to translate that onto the pitch and didn’t have the right mentality. “It was as plain as the nose on the end of your face that he wasn't a Manchester United player and that was obvious after a couple of seasons,” he added. “He just could not deal with playing for a big club like United, where every game is [a] must-win.

“There was no doubting his ability. He had everything to be a top player, but he just became a liability in the end. You go from thinking, on his first day, 'What a player he could be', to now, 'What a player he could have been'. But Manchester United can do that to players – it takes a certain type of mental resilience to succeed.”

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Martial wrote an emotional letter to United supporters upon his departure in which he said it was an honour to play for the club and he’d hold onto the memories forever. But he was delighted to find a new side following a frustrating few months over the off-season.

"I am very happy,” he said after 2,000 fans turned up at Athens Airport to greet him. “AEK is an opportunity for me and I will give my best to achieve things, win trophies and bring joy to the world of the team."

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