4 reasons why Anthony Martial was right to turn down contract extension at Manchester United

#2 To get back into international contention

Martial is no longer a part of the French team

Martial made his international debut in 2015, after his spectacular performance for Monaco in Ligue 1, and since then, he has gone on to make 18 appearances for Les Bleus, scoring a solitary goal.

However, of those 18 caps, only 3 have come since 2017, as Martial's progress with his national team has been remarkably stalled since Mourinho's arrival at Old Trafford. He made six appearances for France in 2015, following that up with an impressive 9 in 2016, making the 23-man squad for EURO 2016 on home soil.

He, however, made just 2 and 1 appearances in 2017 and 2018 respectively, and failed to make it onto Deschamp's World Cup winning squad.

Martial was earmarked as one of the young players to usher France into its next era of dominance, but he has faltered massively in that role, watching as Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Benjamin Pavard and Corentin Tolisso overtook him in the hierarchy of the French national team.

To put it in perspective, Martial had won 16 caps by the time Mbappe made his international debut in March 2017, since then, the 19-year-old PSG forward has gone on to make 26 appearances for France, and was one of the standout performers in their World Cup triumph, while Martial has won just two caps in the same timeframe.

Martial has fallen way down the pecking order for France at Manchester United, and the only way to get back in contention would be by playing consistently, but that might not happen at Old Trafford.