Manchester United to fine Anthony Martial two weeks’ wages (that’s £180k) after going AWOL after birth of son Swan

ANTHONY MARTIAL will be hit with disciplinary action by Manchester United after going AWOL following the birth of his son Swan.

He is facing a club fine of two weeks wages amounting to around £180,000 for failing to train for eight days.

Martial, 22, left the team’s US tour last week to be in Paris for the boy’s birth.

But Mourinho was expecting him to return to the States afterwards and he has not.

When he was asked last night what the future held for the player, Mourinho tried to refer the question to his press office Karen Shotbolt.

He said: “Anthony Martial is better for Karen to answer if she wants to answer.”

Asked later if he would return to the squad he said: “I don’t know.”

Talking after United beat Real Madrid 2-1 here in Miami, he did however praise the spirit of the players who have been here.

He also mentioned that Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones and Romelu Lukaku have agreed to return early from holiday although there was no mention of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard or Marouane Fellaini doing the same after their World Cup exploits.

He said: “My players have been amazing in their effort but we have more effort in front of us.

“We go to Munich in a few days and we start the Premier League in nine days.

“These are the players that we have plus Victor Lindelof, that started training two days ago, plus Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones and Romelu Lukaku because they gave to the group and to the team three days of their holidays so they’re coming back three days early to try and be available for the team.

“And with the fantastic spirit we have in the majority of the players, I repeat: in the MAJORITY of the players, we have a fantastic spirit, we go with everything we have to the Premier League.”

After three 1-1 draws in 90 minutes and a 4-1 defeat to Liverpool, their victory over Real has at least given an otherwise difficult tour a positive end.

Alexis Sanchez has been particularly impressive. He scored against Milan earlier in the tour and added another one against Real as well as setting up Ander Herrera for the second.

Mourinho said: “Alexis Sanchez is fresh, the way the man is running. Imagine what he will be like after a rest.

“I think he is in a fantastic condition so let’s look at it from a positive side and wait for Victor Lindelof, Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku and Phil Jones to come back, not prepared, but they will be back.

“That’s the spirit we need because our first two or three weeks in the Premier League are going to be really hard for us.”