Anthony Martial Is Still Unsigned After the Monterrey Cut

Anthony Martial left Monterrey as a free agent in June and is still unsigned, with newly promoted Málaga studying an offer. The former Manchester United forward, 30, last played on 18 March 2026.

Rayados paid to bring him in last September, then paid to get him off the books. The same coach who had him scoring in Greece drew the line in Monterrey.

Almeyda Drew a Line Through the Frenchman

Matías Almeyda walked into his first Monterrey press conference on 1 June 2026 and cut the club’s most famous recent signing. Martial still had a year left on a deal that ran to 2027, with an option for another. Almeyda did not wait.

They are players who are finishing now and will not be part of what comes next. Today we present ourselves and there is another group. I start counting from here, going forward. What is from here back is not mine.

Matías Almeyda, Monterrey head coach, first press conference

The twist sits in Almeyda’s own file. He coached Martial at AEK Athens in 2024-25, when the Frenchman scored 9 goals and added 2 assists in 24 games and helped AEK finish second in the Greek Super League. Almeyda left Greece in June 2025. A year later he inherited the same forward in Mexico and said the past was not his.

Five days after that presser, Fabrizio Romano reported a mutual agreement to end the Rayados deal. Martial walked as a free agent. Transfermarkt has him listed without a club since July 6, 2026, valued at €3.50 million as of 20 May 2026, his lowest mark.

One Goal in 20 Games, Then a Paid Exit

Monterrey announced Martial on 12 September 2025 from AEK on a two-year contract with a further-year option. He was the first French player in club history. Pumas had wanted him that summer and could not agree personal terms. Rayados could.

AEK said it received €1 million for the move. Mexican reporting put Martial’s annual wage at $4 million. He joined a dressing room that already held Sergio Ramos and Sergio Canales.

THE RAYADOS RETURN

Seventeen of those 20 Monterrey games came in Liga MX: 627 minutes, 1 goal, 2 assists. Three more came in the Concacaf Champions Cup, with 1 assist. Four goal involvements in total. Three of the four arrived on a single night.

On 17 January 2026 he started in a 5-1 win at Mazatlán, scored his first Rayados goal, and cut two assists. That was the high. He never built on it. A Liga MX value update in May cut him by €1.5 million, from €5 million to €3.50 million, and called it his lowest career value. The peak, in 2018, had been €65 million.

He Refused to Come On Against Chivas

The season did not just fade. It snapped. On 14 February 2026 he started at home against León, lasted 44 minutes, and left with a dislocated shoulder. He went off on a stretcher.

He was back in March for the Champions Cup round of 16. His last kick as a Rayado came on 18 March away to Cruz Azul. He started, played 59 minutes in a 1-1 draw, and Monterrey went out 4-3 on aggregate. He was then left out of the remaining league matches that still counted.

THE EXIT IN DATES

1. 14 February 2026: Starts against León, lasts 44 minutes, and leaves with a dislocated shoulder.
2. 18 March 2026: Plays 59 minutes in a 1-1 with Cruz Azul; Monterrey is out 4-3 on aggregate.
3. 21 March 2026: Sits among the substitutes for a 2-3 home loss to Chivas and does not come on.
4. 1 June 2026: Almeyda tells his first press conference that Martial is not part of what comes next.
5. 6 June 2026: Romano reports that both sides have ended the contract.

The Chivas night is the one Rayados people still cite. Nicolás Sánchez, then in the dugout, asked Martial to come on. Martial said no. He was separated from the first team the next day. From that point the remaining year on the contract was a cost, not a plan.

The Foreign Slot Rayados Wanted Back

Liga MX caps how many non-Mexicans a club can dress. A high-wage European who is not playing blocks a cheaper body who might. Mexican reporting said Monterrey chose to pay out the remaining year so it could free that foreign slot for the Apertura 2026.

WHAT THE NINE MONTHS COST

• The wage: Mexican reporting put the annual pay at $4 million.
• The minutes: 627 in Liga MX across 17 games, plus three Champions Cup nights.
• The output: 1 goal and 3 assists, three of the four involvements on 17 January.
• The slot: Rayados ended a deal that still ran to 2027 so a foreign place opened for Almeyda’s first tournament.

That is the club’s side of the ledger. They imported a name, got one loud night in Mazatlán, then bought themselves a vacancy. Almeyda wanted a different striker profile. The Frenchman, once the most valuable player in the squad on paper, became the first big out.

It fits a wider Liga MX turn. Clubs that spent on famous Europeans are now moving them on, while MLS still shops some of the same aging European names Liga MX has started cutting. Martial is the clean specimen: paid like a star, used like a spare, then written off to open a roster line.

He Turned Down Ligue 1 Deals With No Starting Place

Martial has said he wants France. After the cut, his name went to sporting directors in Ligue 1, more than a decade after he left Monaco for United. Two clubs put offers on the table. Neither would guarantee him a start. Both wanted a veteran around younger forwards. He refused both. Nice and Lens were ruled out of that round.

England came back as a rumour, not a contract. After the summer window shut, intermediaries told clubs he could still be registered as a free agent. Seven Premier League sides were approached, among them Everton, Leeds, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Newcastle, Sunderland and Tottenham. Everton, short of a striker after a deadline-day miss, was given a look and did not bite.

The pattern is the same in both countries. Clubs will take the name if the minutes are optional and the wage is down. They will not clear a No. 9 shirt for a forward who has not started a competitive game since March. He is shopping status. They are shopping insurance.

Why Málaga Is Only Studying the File

On 9 September 2026, transfer reporter Matteo Moretto wrote that Málaga is weighing the offer for Martial as a winger or a striker. His camp took the file to La Rosaleda first, then sounded other LaLiga clubs. Málaga is back in the top flight this season and has scored 1 goal in its first 4 league games. Long injuries in attack, including Julen Lobete, reopened the free-agent market for sporting director Loren Juarros.

A free agent can sign after the window. That is the only reason this conversation is still live. Mexican reporting says Martial would cut his wage to play in 2026. Local coverage in Málaga also says the number still looks high for a club that kept a thin residual cap and did not spend big in the summer. There is no agreement. The file is on the desk.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The status: Martial is a free agent and can be registered outside the window.
• The offer: His camp has put him to Málaga as a forward who can play wide or through the middle.
• The need: Málaga has 1 goal in 4 league games and is missing attackers to injury.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• The wage: No club has published a figure both sides would accept.
• The deal: No contract with Málaga, or with any Ligue 1 or Premier League club, has been filed.
• The minutes: No buyer has promised him a starting place.

Spanish replies to Moretto’s post treated the idea as a risk, not a lift. The Sevilla loan in 2022 already showed a player who could go missing in LaLiga, 1 goal in 12 games, and the three months of silence since Cruz Azul have not rebuilt that trust. A promoted club with a tight cap would be buying a highlight reel and a medical file.

United paid an initial £36 million on 1 September 2015, then a teenage record, and he repaid the first months in public: a debut goal against Liverpool, the 2015 Golden Boy, 17 goals in that first season. He left in 2024 with 90 goals in 317 games, 30 France caps, and two goals for his country, the last of them in 2021. Greece gave him a year of actual scoring. Mexico gave him Mazatlán, a stretcher, and a refusal on the bench.

Until a club files the papers, the last line on the record is 59 minutes in the Concacaf Champions Cup on 18 March 2026.