Sport
Has the United ship finally sailed for Anthony Martial?
There is a tense, nervous energy at Old Trafford, but when Anthony Martial picks the ball up on the left wing, a hum of anticipation breaks out. As Martial, making his club debut after a move from AS Monaco, drifts inside and closer to goal, the hum rises into a gasp and then a roar as the Stretford End salutes a new hero’s first goal. The hopes were big.
It was September 13, 2015 and he was showed no fear against Liverpool, his new club’s biggest rivals. Martial joined in a whirlwind deal at the age of just 19 for an initial £36m, a record for a teenager at the time, and was fully expected to rejuvenate a rather stale front line for Louis van Gaal, who had seen Robin van Persie leave just weeks earlier.
It was hasty because the transfer deadline was approaching and options were running out. Van Gaal had made a concerted effort to reduce the age of his squad and spend the vast budget on the future, after the apparently tried and tested failed to perform in his first season. Out went Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, in came Luke Shaw, Memphis Depay and, rather unexpectedly, Anthony Martial.
The surprise element centred around the fee and Martial’s fairly modest goal return in Ligue 1. His talent was undoubted; he was among the first of many breakout French stars over the past six to eight years, and it wasn’t that his numbers were bad, just in keeping with his development. But van Gaal couldn’t wait for his new signings to acclimatise, and there were clear worries for Martial over the expectation for him to deliver.
That goal against Liverpool didn’t just typify his quality as a footballer but also his mental strength. Wearing the number 9 shirt, he thrived off the pressure and, in his first season, which was a disaster relative to the club’s expectations, he carried the team at times, scoring 18 goals in all competitions and 11 in the Premier League. Van Gaal was sacked that summer and replaced by Jose Mourinho.
After an encouraging start to his career in England, Martial’s progress was brought to an abrupt halt from which it has scarcely recovered. Mourinho stripped him of his squad number and gave it to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, symbolic in the fact that the Frenchman was then left to find space for himself in the team out wide. He took number 11 and, with the pace and agility he showed on his debut, there was method in shifting his focus to the wings. Part of the reason he was compared to Thierry Henry was because of that versatility in his technical and physical skillset, but where van Gaal attempted to harness it to turn him into a striker, Mourinho went the other way.
It just so happened that Marcus Rashford emerged from the youth team at the back end of the previous season, scoring goal after goal. But he fell into a similar bracket to Anthony Martial, and they both continue to battle for a wide berth in the side today, long after Mourinho was sacked and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku have been and gone, and Martial has seen his original number reinstated. But the early expectation that he would provide goals isn’t there anymore; he has played through the middle intermittently under Solskjaer, but his goal return has not convinced, with the exception of the pandemic-hit 2019/20 season, when he scored over one in two in the league; 17 in 32 matches.
Then Edinson Cavani came in and Mason Greenwood appeared too. The focal point in Solsjaer’s side has become extremely crowded. Cavani’s role was billed as mentor to Rashford, Greenwood and Martial, in a bid to help them develop over a couple of years before setting off into the sunset and retiring or playing on in South America. But four goals and three assists in 22 Premier League matches meant last season was his least productive, and his timing could hardly have been worse. At the age of 25, years of frustrating inconsistency have weighed heavy, and now may be the right time for the Red Devils to cut their losses and move on.
Jadon Sancho’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund will further complicate matters from Martial’s perspective. He and Rashford often battle it out for the position on the left but the England star is regularly ahead in the pecking order. It is hard to imagine Sancho will not make the opposite flank his own when up to speed this season. Next summer, when Cavani’s contract expires, Sancho’s former club-mate Erling Haaland will reportedly be available for £75m, thanks to a clause in his contract. Value like that will make competition for his signature extremely fierce but Manchester United are targeting the Premier League title this season and clinching that will give them a good chance of luring him, thus closing off another avenue for Martial.
From a marketability standpoint, AnthonyMartial is not gong to be more valuable than he is now. His age dictates that he can still fulfil his potential elsewhere and tapping into it will give somebody a top player at a bargain price. But after years of waiting and wondering whether he will become a star at Manchester United, it is time to accept that ship has sailed.
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