Anthony Martial finally ended his five-year international goal drought on Saturday night as he equalised for France in their 1-1 draw with Ukraine.
25-year-old Martial led the line for Didier Deschamps' side in the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe, while Karim Benzema started on the bench before being introduced in the second half.
Prior to Saturday night's match, Martial had scored just one goal in 28 caps for France, and his record at club level hasn't exactly been stellar of late either, with his brace in Manchester United's 9-0 win over Southampton back in February the last time he found the net.
After the goal on Saturday night, he told French news outlet L'Equipe of his joy having finally doubled his account for France: “It’s been a long time since I scored so it does me a lot of good.”
Despite rescuing a point for Deschamps' side, the United forward's display saw him come in for heavy criticism.
Martial had just 26 touches of the ball in the 64 minutes he was on the pitch before he was replaced by Real Madrid forward Benzema.
He'll be hoping that his goal can act as a springboard to reignite his Old Trafford career, but his chances of breaking into the team are perhaps slimmer than ever.
Martial has been handed the opportunity to cement his place as United's first-choice number nine in the early weeks of the season, but he's failed to really take advantage of the opportunity and now faces competition from the likes of Edinson Cavani, Mason Greenwood and Cristiano Ronaldo.
During the 2019/20 season, Martial's United career looked to finally be taking off having helped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side to a third-place finish with 23 goals 12 assists.
However, since then his United career has hit the buffers. Why? Increased competition for places has almost definitely played its part.
As we've seen in the past, Martial shines when he knows he's a guaranteed starter. The Frenchman is definitely a confidence player and he produces his best football was he knows he has the faith of his manager.
Last season, Solskjaer seemingly had very little faith in the Frenchman and his performances suffered as a result.
It makes you wonder what the future holds for Martial at United. Taking into consideration last season's form as well as the arrival of Ronaldo, it's hard to imagine him leading the line for the club moving forward.
Solskjaer will probably opt for Ronaldo as the main striker because he's simply one of the greatest goalscorers ever. 34-year-old Cavani also can't be ignored because he was outstanding every time he wore the United jersey last season, scoring some crucial goals both domestically and in Europe.
A lot of United supporters have already accepted the fact that Martial will never make it at the club. When he arrived at Old Trafford in 2015, everyone expected the Frenchman to flourish at United after his debut goal against Liverpool, but it just hasn't worked out.
Solskjaer has plenty of attacking options at his disposal after a solid transfer window and it seems unthinkable that Martial will be picked ahead of Ronaldo and Cavani. So, is his United career over or is there somewhere else in the team that he could slot in and potentially make a difference?
United's last league game against Wolverhampton Wanderers saw Martial come off the bench and play on the left-hand side of the front three - a position he played in early on in his career.
The aforementioned goal against Liverpool was a great example of how effective he can be from the left, cutting inside and tying Martin Skrtel in knots before slotting the ball into the far corner.
He's clearly got the ability to play on the left, the problem is that he hasn't played there on a regular basis. As well as this, United have plenty of options in this position with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho all able to fill the role.
Some United fans still harbour hope that Martial will eventually start to produce on a consistent basis and play a big part in the team's success, but if he is to make his mark at the club then Solskjaer probably needs to reconsider where he fits in his side, and that's likely to mean Martial adapting to a change in position.
The France international certainly has plenty of talent and it would be a shame to see a player leave who can clearly make a difference, but right now it feels as though his future at Old Trafford hinges on whether Solskjaer can find a way to shoehorn him into United's star-studded attacking lineup.
Is Martial's Manchester United career over? Follow our new United Fan Brands writer Omar Garrick on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts on the title race following the signing of Ronaldo in the comments section below.
