Anthony Martial leaves Manchester United pre-season tour of US to join girlfriend Melanie Da Cruz ahead of imminent birth of son
United were unable to confirm whether forward was granted permission by boss Jose Mourinho to leave Los Angeles training base
ANTHONY MARTIAL has left Manchester United's pre-season tour to be with his girlfriend for the birth of their child.
United were unable to confirm whether the Frenchman was granted permission from boss Jose Mourinho to leave their Los Angeles training base on Tuesday night.
His 26-year-old partner Melanie Da Cruz is set to give birth to the couple's first child together and Martial's second.
Martial already has a two-year-old daughter called Peyton from a previous relationship with Samantha Jacquelinet.
The French reality TV star broke the news of her pregnancy in February with a an image of her lying on the beach next to the words "It's a boy" written in the sand.
It will come as bad timing for Mourinho who is already losing patience with the 22-year-old.
Martial has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford and the Portuguese gaffer is sick of the player and his agent pushing for the exit door.
Mourinho would consider letting the £50million player leave to a club abroad with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund interested.
But Martial wants to stay in the Premier League against the club's wishes, as revealed exclusively by SunSport.
Chelsea and Spurs have monitored his situation but are continuing to stumble over his price-tag.
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Martial has another year to run on his current contract and has rejected a new long-term deal at Old Trafford.
But United could trigger a 12-month option on the contract he penned when he arrived from Monaco in 2015 for £36million, possibly rising to £57.6m, in order to increase his value in the market.