Reports have surfaced that Anthony Martial has turned down a new contract offer at Old Trafford and that he wants to leave Manchester United in the summer.

It’s believed that the young French forward has become disillusioned with life at the Red Devils due to the lack of game time he’s had during this season, especially since the arrival of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in January.

Since Jose Mourinho’s arrival at United, Martial has been push out wide from a central striker’s role and now Sanchez has basically pushed the international forward out to a permanent place on the bench.

The twenty-two year old may have only made twenty-two starts for his club this term but he’s managed to grab eleven goals and produced seven assists for teammates.

I think Martial has shown enough when he has been on the pitch to suggest he has a huge future in the game. That’s why illustrious clubs such as Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Juventus have all been linked with his signature.

 

The attacker is very much in the same mould as a young Thierry Henry. Anthony has the pace and skill to get beyond players, has fine instincts in front of goal and scares opponents when he has the ball at his feet.

Having thrilling pace, a good skill set and an eye for goal is just the tools needed to become a world class hitman.

In the past, United legend Sir Alex Ferguson enthused:

“The boy Anthony Martial, he can be anything,”

 “What I like about the boy is that he doesn’t panic. I don’t think you can teach that.”

Now some have questioned his attitude in the past but the forward managed to convert into an impressive left winger this term and to do that you need to be smart, versatile and have the right attitude. It’s a real shame that just as he looked to nail that position down, Mourinho decided to bring in Alexis and that was a signing that upset the rhythm of the whole team not just Martial.

We all know Jose loves his wide-men to show defensive discipline and Anthony has worked on that side of his game but, as I’ve said recently, United look a much better team when they’ve got a licence to attack teams. Both Martial and fellow young forward Marcus Rashford have a direct threat that isn’t being used enough this term.

Against some sides in the Premier League, Mourinho could deploy two strikers (Romelu Lukaku and another). That could see both Rashford and Martial get more minutes on the park. That would show the two attackers that they have a future playing in the striking positions at Old Trafford.

United have a rich history of getting things done with talented younger players.

Unfortunately Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho has a reputation of lacking patience when it comes to dealing with youngsters, especially promising forwards. Whilst at Chelsea, the Portuguese manager sold both Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah and they’re probably the best creative performers in England’s top flight this season!

Jose also dumped Lukaku when he was at the Bridge.

If Manchester United sell Anthony Martial in the summer, I have no doubts he’ll become superstar elsewhere and another star that people will use to throw in Mourinho’s face.

Posted on April 11th, 2018 by scott
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