Anthony Martial was one of numerous top-level players who were excluded from France's squad for Euro 2020.

France's world-class depth

The world champions entered this summer's tournaments as one of the favourites to go all the way, but flattered to deceive with a round of 16 exit against Switzerland on penalties.

One of the biggest reasons that France's early bow was so unexpected came down to the fact that their squad was so stacked with talent that the thought of them losing seemed almost implausible.

And there could be few better demonstrations of just how much talent that Didier Deschamps had on his hands this summer than by listing the unbridled quality that had to be left behind.

Saul Niguez to Liverpool FEE AGREED (Football Terrace)

Martial misses Euro 2020 squad

Besides, it said everything about the world-class depth of the France national team that the likes of Dayot Upamecano, Eduardo Camavinga, Theo Hernandez and Ferland Mendy all missed out.

The aforementioned Martial fits into that category, too, with the Manchester United ace looking to have had a good chance of making the squad on the back of his return to the France fold in 2020.

Deschamps handed the 25-year-old his first caps since 2018 upon scoring 23 goals in the 2019/20 campaign, before following up his show of faith with two more deployments this year.

Euro 2020: News, Groups, Fixtures, Dates, Tickets, Odds And Everything You Need To Know

Martial's poor 2020/21 form

However, it's clear that Deschamps became perturbed by what was undoubtedly a disappointing 2020/21 season for Martial with injuries and a lack of form limiting him to just seven goals.

And that lack of faith in Martial appears to be an opinion that's shared by Thibaut Courtois of all people based on a bizarre clip of the Belgium goalkeeper taking a cheeky dig at the Frenchman.

During an interview with Pickx, Courtois was asked by Jan Vertonghen to name star players who were not able to compete at Euro 2020, prompting him to suggest Sergio Ramos as an answer.

Courtois' cheeky dig

But when Courtois failed to produce any other names, Vertonghen began listing off potential answers that were listed on a card, which included Martial amongst others.

It was at that point that Courtois made his cheeky dig, so be sure to check out a translation of the conversation, according to Get French Football News, down below:

Goal offers a slightly different translation by way of suggesting that Courtois said: "Martial? He is a star player?" but the broad nature of the dig remains the same either way.

And the footage, which you can check out below, certainly makes for awkward viewing because it's not 100% apparent than Courtois is messing around in quite the way you'd imagine.

A bizarre comment

No doubt it was just a harmless comment from the former Chelsea goalkeeper, but you can tell from the fact that Vertonghen proceeded to break into laughter that it certainly felt a little edgy.

Either way, though, neither Courtois nor Martial can lay claim to a winners' medal from Euro 2020 with Belgium having exited the competition at the quarter-final stage against Italy.

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As such, Courtois and Martial will similarly be watching Italy go to war with England from the comfort of their own homes before getting their seasons underway with Real Madrid and United.

The best thing that Martial can do is to channel Courtois' dig as motivation for the new season and prove to his former Premier League rival that he does the status of a 'star' or 'major' player.