Once upon a time £36m would get you a household name, but not anymore it would seem.
Several journalists in France claimed on Sunday evening that United had made a late move for Monaco striker Anthony Martial - something that their English colleagues caught up with less than 24 hours later.
Since then, Martial has been granted permission to leave France's training camp and he has been spotted at United's training base in Carrington. It would seem that barring an unexpected 11th hour hiccup of David de Gea proportions, the Red Devils will soon confirm that they have broken the transfer record for a teenager.
Is this the ultimate panic buy, or is there method to United's thinking? Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at what the 19-year-old could provide to the 20-time champions of England, both over the next few months and coming seasons.
Background
Born in the Southern Paris suburb of Massy, Martial first rose to prominence on the footballing scene aged eight with CO Les Ulis.The club, which is currently languishing in the seventh tier of the French football system, is famous for producing the likes of ex-United full-back Patrice Evra and Thierry Henry (more on him later). Yaya Sanogo, who is on loan at Ajax from Arsenal, and former controversial Rangers defender Bilel Moshni also spent part of their youth careers at the Stade Jean-Marc Salinier.
Martial remained with the Blues until 2009, when he was spotted by scouts from Lyon - the club that the striker would later claim he had supported since childhood, despite growing up with Paris Saint-Germain in close proximity.
Having impressed for Lyon's youth sides, Martial was handed his competitive debut a day after he had turned 17 in a Europa League tie against Israeli outfit Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Yet, there would be just three more senior appearances before a £3.5m move - motivated by Lyon's financial problems - was sealed to Monaco.
It was a transfer that was met by widespread indignation by the Lyon faithful, 6,000 of whom signed an online petition in a bid to convince president Jean-Michel Aulas to change his mind. The plea fell on deaf ears, though, with Martial having spent the last two years in the principality, where he has gradually grown in stature.
2014-15 season
Upon his arrival in 2013, a 17-year-old Martial found his route into the first team blocked by the likes of Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez.However, 12 months later and with the Colombian duo having departed for Man United and Real Madrid respectively, head coach Leonardo Jardim had little choice but to put his trust in the youngster.
While his goal return was by no means spectacular, Jardim will still feel that his decision to entrust Martial was vindicated.
The frontman found the net nine times in Ligue 1, one of which - a last-minute equaliser against eventual champions PSG - caused great joy among the Monaco supporters and made him a firm favourite.
A further three goals were scored in domestic cup encounters, yet in his seven Champions League outings, Martial failed to bulge the net. Having said that, he did earn rave reviews for the performance that he put in during the first leg of the last 16 clash against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, where he set up Dimitar Berbatov's goal in the shock 3-1 win for Jardim's men.
It is worth noting, though, that the Champions League duck was broken during a recent qualifying encounter against Swiss outfit Young Boys.
Style of play
As well as a goalkeeper, central midfielder and another pacey wide player, United fans have spent the last few days bemoaning the club's lack of options up front. With Javier Hernandez now at Bayer Leverkusen and James Wilson heading for a loan exit, that has left captain Wayne Rooney, who is currently bogged down by a 10-game Premier League barren spell, as the only senior centre-forward at Van Gaal's disposal.What United are in desperate need of is pace in the final third, which supporters will be relieved to learn that Martial has in abundance.
That allows him to stretch defences, while his willingness to run into the channels is not only a nightmare for defenders, but also provides his teammates with an outlet pass.
Being French, having played for the same youth team - Monaco - and with speed to burn, the comparisons with Henry were inevitable.
It is obviously far too early to be seriously comparing the two, but there are undeniable similarities. Like Henry, Martial has enviable explosiveness off the mark and he is also an impressive dribbler with the ball at his feet.
Where will he play?
As has already been mentioned, United have a chasm up front. Whether Van Gaal views Martial as the man to ease the burden on Rooney, only time will tell, but centre-forward is now his most natural position, having played their regularly for Monaco since the end of February.Nevertheless, with his pace and direct approach, Martial is also capable of operating in a wide position, a la a young Henry.
He may be naturally right-footed, but like so many wingers in this day and age, Martial is comfortable operating on the left flank. That gives him the freedom to cut inside his marker and unleash with his stronger foot - something that Memphis Depay has shown a liking for during the infancy of his United career.
It could be in away matches where Martial really comes to the fore, with his ability to cover ground quickly, alongside the likes of Depay, potentially causing problems on the counter-attack.
International
Martial is yet to be capped at senior international, but that could be about to change courtesy of his inclusion in Didier Deschamps's squad for the upcoming friendly encounters against Portugal and Serbia.With strikers of the calibre of Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Alexandre Lacazette also available to Deschamps, Martial's involvement shows just how highly he is regarded by the head coach.
He has played for the Under-21s, for whom he scored four goals in 12 appearances. What's more, he was named in the Team of the Tournament at the 2013 European Championships.
Speaking about Martial's imminent switch to Old Trafford, Under-21 boss Pierre Mankowski said: "He is a talent. When he takes the ball, he is unstoppable. But he is still young. He has a lot of things to work on. But since he has this innate talent, it means he has a bright future.
"It's up to him to prove with the senior national team and with his new club. He has everything to become a great player. But he needs to do everything every day to be at the top level."
Weaknesses
There will be facets of any young footballer's game that are in need of some polishing and Martial is no different. But, while some of those aspects are technical, he may also need to alter his mentality and productivity, particularly when considering that he will be working for the famously hard-nosed Van Gaal.Former Monaco and current Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri once said of Martial: "He is a great youngster with a great future, but he must change his mindset. Sometimes the French mentality is, 'today I play well, maybe I'll play well tomorrow'. No, you must work hard to do your best every day."
Even Jardim had difficulties with the centre-forward, especially during an away encounter at Nantes last term when Martial was introduced as a second-half substitute, only to be hauled off 30 minutes later. The Monaco boss insisted at the time that the decision was "tactical", but reports claimed that he had become frustrated by the protege's failure to follow instructions.
There are also fitness concerns that need addressing. He featured in 35 Ligue 1 games last season, yet completed 90 minutes on only three occasions. Going back to Ranieri, it was an issue that he first identified in 2013 when he declared that Martial "ran out of gas".
Questions have also been raised over Martial's ability to cope with the physical battle, which is something that he is going to encounter in England on a more regular basis than he ever did in France.
At the age of 19, there is still plenty of time for Martial to iron out those creases. The one concern, though, would be that it's widely accepted United need a striker for the here and now. There is little doubt that the £36m man has the potential to be that man, but that's exactly what he is - potential.
No comments:
Post a Comment