Early career and Lyon Born in
Massy, Essonne, Martial spent his youth years with
Paris-based
Les Ulis from 2001, the same team who produced French internationals
Thierry Henry and
Patrice Evra. His first
Ligue 1 game was on 3 February 2013 against
Ajaccio, when he came on as a substitute in the 79th minute for
Rachid Ghezzal in a 3–1 away loss. He made two further appearances from the bench that season.
Monaco in 2015 On 30 June 2013,
Monaco announced they had signed Martial to a three-year contract for a fee of €5 million plus bonuses. On 24 November, he made his first league appearance for the club at the age of 17, replacing
Radamel Falcao after 63 minutes and playing a part in
Mounir Obbadi's goal which gave victory away to
Nantes. He scored his first goal for the principality club on his first start, a 2–0 win over
Rennes at the
Stade Louis II six days later. His campaign was disrupted by a sprained ankle against
Valenciennes in December. In his second season at Monaco, Martial scored nine goals in 36 Ligue 1 games, starting on 5 October 2014 when as a substitute for
Lucas Ocampos, he gained a 1–1 draw at reigning champions
Paris Saint-Germain with a last-minute strike from close range. He scored twice against a 10-man
Bastia on 13 March 2015 in a 3–0 home victory. On 26 June, he further extended his link with the team until 2019. On 4 August 2015, Martial scored his first goal in European competition, in a 4–0 home win over
Young Boys in the third qualifying round of the
UEFA Champions League; Monaco advanced 7–1 on aggregate.
Manchester United Transfer On 1 September 2015, Martial completed a move to
Manchester United for £36 million, on a four-year contract with the option of another year. This was the highest transfer fee paid for a teenager, breaking the previous record of £27 million that United had paid for
Luke Shaw a year earlier, and that Paris Saint-Germain had paid for
Marquinhos in 2013. United paid £36 million up front for Martial, but his contract contained three bonus clauses worth £7.2 million each, taking the potential fee to £57.6 million. £44.7 million ended up being the total fee, due to only one of the three bonus clauses being met. The clauses each related to certain accomplishments being achieved in the four years after the transfer, including if Martial scored 25 goals during that span, racked up 25 caps for
France or won the
Ballon d'Or before June 2019. Manager
Louis van Gaal called Martial an acquisition for United's future rather than for immediate use, and called the transfer fee "ridiculous", alleging that Manchester United regularly had to pay £10 million more than other teams. Upon signing, Martial said: "I'm so excited to join United, I have always wanted to play in the Premier League and to join the biggest club in the world is what every young footballer dreams of." Van Gaal stated, "Anthony is a naturally talented, young, multi-functional forward with great potential. I believe this is the club for him to continue his development." The fee was reportedly met with astonishment by the French public. Van Gaal called it a "marvellous goal". Eight days later, in his first Premier League start, he scored twice in an away win, 3–2 at
Southampton. On 23 September, again as a replacement for Mata, Martial scored his fourth goal in four games for his new club, concluding a 3–0 win over
Ipswich Town in the third round of the
League Cup. Martial's early impact was praised by former United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson, who stated that "he can do anything". Martial won his first individual honour at United as he picked up the 'PFA Fan's Player of the Month' for September, in which he notched up three goals from two matches. A few days later, he gained his second trophy at United, as his strike against Liverpool earned him the club's 'Goal of the Month' for September. He was also named
Premier League Player of the Month for September, the third-youngest player to receive the award after
Micah Richards and
Michael Owen. On 21 October, in a Champions League
group stage match away to
CSKA Moscow, Martial gave away a penalty – which
David de Gea saved from
Roman Eremenko – and later equalised to confirm a 1–1 draw. He was awarded the
Golden Boy as Europe's best under-21 player on 19 December. Martial was key in a 2–1 win against
Everton in the
FA Cup semi-final at
Wembley on 23 April 2016: he assisted the first goal by
Marouane Fellaini and scored an added-time winner. He finished the season as the club's top scorer in both the league and overall competitions with 11 goals and 17 goals respectively.
2016–17 season Martial retained his starting berth at Manchester United under new manager
José Mourinho, starting ahead of in-form teammate
Marcus Rashford on the left wing for the opening few games of the season. The forward, however, lost his place in the starting line-up after several underwhelming performances, with the club tentatively attributing Martial's difficulties to ongoing problems in his personal life. Nevertheless, on 2 October 2016, Martial came off the bench at Old Trafford to score United's only goal—his first of the new season—against
Stoke City, a game that ended in a 1–1 draw. On 30 November 2016, Martial was recalled to the side to face West Ham in the EFL Cup after receiving warnings about his starting spot in previous weeks from manager José Mourinho, he responded by scoring two goals in a 4–1 win to send United into the semi-final of the competition. Being in and out of the team for a couple of months, Martial was rumoured to leave Manchester United in the summer, but on 6 February he made it clear on his Twitter account, tweeting: "the paper's are wrong don't listen to them". Martial returned to the starting line-up against
Watford at Old Trafford on 11 February by providing an assist to Juan Mata and later scoring a goal for himself in the 60th minute, he was later declared the man of the match. On 26 February, he was named in the starting XI that faced Southampton at Wembley for the
2017 EFL Cup Final, which United won 3–2. The victory earned Martial his third piece of silverware for United. In May, he won the first European trophy of his career, coming on as a substitute in the
2017 UEFA Europa League Final.
2017–18 season After a successful spell for Manchester United towards the end of last season, winning the League Cup and Europa League, Martial started the season as a substitute for most matches. Despite this Martial managed to score from the bench in United's first two league matches against
West Ham United and
Swansea City, and again later against
Everton; with all three matches ending in a 4–0 win for United. Martial's first start of the season came on 20 September in a 4–1 win over
Burton Albion in the League Cup in which he also scored. Martial repeated this a week later in the Champions League, scoring in a 4–1 win over
CSKA Moscow. In October Martial scored United's only goal in their win over
Tottenham and again in November against
Watford and
Newcastle United. In January, Martial scored again against
Everton away, scored against
Stoke City and provide the winning goal against
Burnley. However following the January transfer season, Martial began to fall out of favour following the signing of Chilean forward
Alexis Sánchez on 22 January. A lack of game time saw Martial fail to produce another goal for the club all season. Because of this, there was heavy speculation that Martial would leave Manchester United during the summer transfer season.
2018–19 season Martial made his first competitive appearance for Manchester United's 2018–19 season in their 3–2 loss to
Brighton in the Premier League. Through August and September, Martial made three other substitute appearance in the Premier League until the September's final game against
West Ham United saw him make the starting eleven. However, two weeks prior saw Martial start in Manchester United's Champions League opener and score his first goal of the season in a 3–0 win against
Young Boys. Martial's first league goal came in a 3–2 comeback against
Newcastle United where he also started. After that match Martial started and scored in every Premier League game up to the November International Break, scoring against
Bournemouth,
Everton, two goals against
Chelsea, and a penalty goal in the
Manchester derby. This spell of goal scoring saw Martial become one of seven players to have scored in five consecutive league games for Manchester United. Martial also won Manchester United's October Player of the Month award. On 24 November, Martial started in United's goalless draw with
Crystal Palace, playing the full 90 minutes. This came after speculation that he would miss the game due to an injury picked up on international duty. Martial also played the full 90 minutes against
Champions League opponents
Young Boys, which United won 1–0, securing their place in the knockout stage. After missing United's tie with
Southampton, Martial played in the club's home game against
Arsenal in which he scored his eighth goal of the season with the match ending in a 2–2 draw. On 17 December 2018, United triggered an option to extend Martial's contract that would keep him at the club until 2020. On 22 December, under new manager
Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Martial scored his ninth of the season in a 5–1 victory over
Cardiff City. On 25 January 2019, Martial scored Manchester United's third goal in a 3–1 win over
Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round; it was his first goal of 2019 and his 10th of the season. On 31 January 2019, Martial signed a new five-year contract with Manchester United, keeping him at the club until summer 2024. On 9 February, Martial assisted
Paul Pogba's opener before scoring United's second goal in a 3–0 win over
Fulham. On 10 March, Martial returned as a substitute against
Arsenal after sustaining an injury against
PSG a month prior. Later that month he scored the second goal in a 2–1 win over
Watford.
2019–20 season Martial began the
2019–20 league season by starting and scoring Manchester United's second goal in a 4–0 victory over Chelsea at
Old Trafford. He also scored in United's second match, a 1–1 draw away against
Wolverhampton Wanderers on 19 August 2019. On his first start since returning from injury in August, Martial scored the winning penalty against
Partizan Belgrade in late October, before scoring against
Norwich City in a 3–1 victory the following weekend. On 24 June 2020, he scored his first senior hat-trick in a 3–0 home win against
Sheffield United. This was United's first Premier League hat-trick since 22 April 2013, when
Robin van Persie did so against
Aston Villa en route of sealing the club's
most recent league title to date.
2020–21 season On 4 October 2020, Martial received the first red card of his career for hitting out at
Erik Lamela during United's 1–6 loss to
Tottenham Hotspur in the
Premier League and was later banned for three domestic games. In the
UEFA Champions League group stage match against
RB Leipzig on 28 October, Martial scored his first goal of the season, slotting home United's fourth goal in a 5–0 win. He scored his first league goal of the season on 17 December 2020 in a 3–2 away win against Sheffield United. He scored two goals – the only one to do so – in United's Premier League record-equalling
9–0 home win against
Southampton on 2 February 2021.
2021–22 season: Loan to Sevilla Martial scored his first goal of the season on 2 October 2021, a first-half strike in a 1–1 draw against
Everton. On 25 January 2022, he joined
Sevilla on loan until the end of the season. He debuted on 5 February in a 0–0 draw away to
Osasuna in
La Liga. Six days later he registered his first assist for the club, crossing for
Rafa Mir to make it 2–0 in a home win over
Elche. Martial scored his first Sevilla goal on 17 February, the team's third in a 3–1
UEFA Europa League play-off win over
Dinamo Zagreb at the
Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. His progress was interrupted by a muscle injury eight days later, forcing him off in the first half of a 1–1 draw at
Espanyol. He returned in March and featured in both legs of the Europa League round of 16 against
West Ham United. In total, he made 12 appearances for Sevilla in all competitions, scoring once and recording one assist.
2023–24 season Martial played his last match for United on 9 December 2023 in a 3–0 loss to
Bournemouth. On 27 May 2024, Martial announced on
Instagram that he would leave the club after a nine-year stint at Old Trafford.
AEK Athens On 19 September 2024, Martial joined
Super League Greece club
AEK Athens on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal through 2027 and taking the number 26 shirt. He made his debut on 20 October 2024 as a 76th-minute substitute in a 1–1 league draw against
PAOK. Martial scored his first AEK goal on 30 October 2024, deciding the
Greek Cup round of 16 first leg with a 1–0 home win over
Aris. He also scored the equaliser in the second leg on 3 December (1–1 away; AEK advanced 2–1 on aggregate). His first league goal came five days later, an 87th-minute winner in a 2–1 away victory at
OFI on 8 December 2024. He subsequently scored the only goal in a 1–0 home win over
Panetolikos on 25 January 2025, and netted a brace in a 5–0 win against
Panserraikos on 9 February 2025. AEK reached the Greek Cup semi-finals, where they were eliminated 6–2 on aggregate by
Olympiacos (0–6 away, 2–0 home). Media reaction in Greece described his impact as decisive in tight matches—
Sport24 called his winner against Panetolikos on 25 January "a moment of magic" that "unlocked" the game, while his brace in a 5–0 win over Panserraikos on 9 February was highlighted as one of his strongest displays for the club. His momentum was checked by a muscle injury suffered in early March against Olympiacos, which forced him off before half-time. He finished his first season with AEK on nine goals and two assists in 24 appearances in all competitions, with Greek outlets noting his role in keeping AEK in the title race through winter.
Monterrey On 12 September 2025, Martial joined
Liga MX club
Monterrey, signing a two-year deal through 2027. ==International career==