'Family Comes First': Anthony Martial Defends His Priorities After Jose Mourinho Comments

Anthony Martial will return to training with Manchester United on Thursday after the birth of his child forced him to pull out of the Red Devils' US tour.

Martial is set to be fined two weeks wages for leaving United's training camp to return to France, where his partner Melanie Da Cruz gave birth to their son, Swan Anthony Martial.

The Frenchman did not fly back to America after the birth, which riled his manager Jose Mourinho, who was critical of Martial's absence after the 4-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday.

"Anthony Martial has the baby and after the baby is born – beautiful baby, full of health, thank God – he should be here and he is not here," said Mourinho.

There was a significant backlash to Mourinho's cold-hearted comments and Martial has chimed in with his first tweet since the birth, in which he reiterated his commitment to his family above all else.

"Thank you all for your posts. My little Swan is fine, for the mom it was harder but thanks to God she's better now. Sorry but my family will always come first...back tomorrow in Manchester," he wrote.

Martial's fine will come to £180,000 and may force him to consider his future at Old Trafford, which has been in question all summer. Tottenham have been linked with a move but United's prohibitive £70m asking price is a strong deterrent.

If he is still at Old Trafford when the transfer window closes on 9 August, he could play the following day against Leicester in the Premier League curtain-raiser.