Manchester United forward Anthony Martial looks set to stay at Old Trafford, according to journalist Pete O'Rourke.

What's the latest transfer news involving Anthony Martial?

As covered by GIVEMESPORT, both ESPN and Dean Jones have reported this summer that Martial could be sold by Manchester United, with Transfermarkt valuing him at £40.5m

That reported stance came with obvious logic; Martial is one of the top earners at Old Trafford with a wage of £250k per week and the recent arrival of Jadon Sancho has only seemingly pushed him further down the pecking order. 

However, O'Rourke has a different interpretation of the situation and believes Martial will be staying with last season's Premier League runners-up. 

What has O'Rourke said about Martial's Old Trafford future?

Speaking on The Football Terrace, O'Rourke claimed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer intends to keep the France international at United this summer. 

He told host Terry Flewers: "Everybody thought Anthony Martial might be sacrificed by Manchester United this summer but it seems all signals out of Old Trafford are that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to keep him around.

"That’s probably also because of the injury to Marcus Rashford. Anthony Martial will be needed, definitely for the first few weeks of the season while Rashford is recovering from his shoulder operation."

You can hear what O'Rourke said about Martial in full in the video below...

How long will Marcus Rashford be sidelined for?

Rashford has undergone shoulder surgery to deal with an underlying issue that he's battled since November 2020, according to Goal.

The England international persisted during Euro 2020 as Gareth Southgate's side made the final but has now gone under the knife and is expected to be out of action until October, meaning he could miss up to seven Premier League games.

Fortunately, United won't face any of the Premier League's Big Six during that time with the Red Devils enjoying a favourable run of games at the beginning of the new season - which starts on Saturday against Leeds United. 

A fresh chance for Martial?

To say Martial's United career had begun to dry up would be a bit of an understatement.

From a return of 17 top flight goals and six assists in 2019/20, last term saw him manage just four Premier League strikes and a further three setups. He also suffered a worrying 2.3 unsuccessful touches per game. 

Nonetheless, Rashford's injury gives Martial a chance to prove himself once again. While he's often blown hot and cold - 13 goals of the aforementioned 17-haul were scored within the space of just 20 league games - last term was the only top flight campaign in which he'd failed to provide at least ten goal contributions.

Now aged 25, Martial is running out of time to establish himself as a genuine United superstar, but Rashford's injury at least gives him a chance of doing so during what should be the prime years of his career.