Manchester United No.9 Anthony Martial is having his best season in a United shirt with 22 goals across all competitions. Out of the 22 goals, Martial has scored 17 goals in the Premier League, without taking a penalty kick. But all was not merry for the Frenchman always at Old Trafford as we take a look at his career so far at Manchester United.
The mercurial Frenchman joined United in the summer transfer window of 2015 from AS Monaco for an initial fee of £36m. This was the then highest fee paid for any teenager, as Van Gaal looked to bring in youngsters to build his United side. Martial was renowned in France for his electric pace and immaculate dribbling and shooting.
At AS Monaco, Martial had played a total of 70 games, in which he scored 15 goals and provided eight assists. Van Gaal was impressed by his trickery and gave the teenager his first chance at Old Trafford against Liverpool. Coming on in place of Mata, Martial produced magic as he dribbled past Lovren to score his first United goal.
It didn’t take him long to become a fan favourite as he scored against arch-rivals Liverpool, on his debut at Old Trafford. In his first Premier League start, Martial scored a brace against Southampton and showed his class again. In his first season with United, Martial played 49 games, in which he scored 17 goals and assisted nine more.
This output was great especially when we consider it for a teenager, who came from with the pressure of a hefty fee. He was named Premier League Player of the month in September and was the third-youngest to achieve the award. His performances also earned him the Golden Boy award in 2016, which is given to the most talented u-21 player in Europe.
His second season what somewhat different from his first season, as United sacked Van Gaal and brought in Jose Mourinho. Under Mourinho, the Red Devils brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and handed him the No.9 shirt, which Martial used to wear. This gesture put a huge dent in the youngster’s confidence, and his performances on the field showed exactly the same.
In the 2016/17 season, Martial played 42 times for the Red Devils and predominantly played from the left flank. This automatically reduced his chances of scoring goals, as the Frenchman managed to get only eight goals and eight assists that season. It was a successful season for United but Martial didn’t play a significant role in any of these.
There were several rumours that Martial wanted to leave the club, but he put these doubts aside with a tweet. Martial wanted to stay at Old Trafford and wanted to fight for his place under Mourinho. Martial started his third season as a Red Devil as a substitute and feel further down the pecking order, with Alexis Sanchez’s arrival in January 2018.
In the 2017/18 season, Martial played a total of 45 games, scoring 11 goals and providing nine assists. But states don’t tell the entire story, as most of his appearances were off the bench as a substitute. In fact, after January, Martial didn’t get a goal for United for the rest of the season, due to lack of game-time and hampered confidence.
Come the transfer window of 2018, there were strong rumours that Mourinho wanted to sell Martial to generate funds. But the club owners didn’t allow him to do so, as they rated Martial very highly. Thus the mesmeric dribbler stayed at United and was given a glimmer of hope with Ibrahimovic’s long-term injury.
From the beginning of the 2018/19 season, Martial started brightly as he scored eight goals till December. Following a 3-0 loss to Liverpool, Mourinho was sacked and was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskajer. The Norwegian favoured playing Martial up top rather than Lukaku, boosting the Frenchman’s confidence.
By the end of the season, Martial had scored 12 goals and provided three assists for Manchester United. In the summer of 2019, with the departure of Romelu Lukaku, Martial got back his No.9 shirt, as Solskjaer put his faith in Martial. Martial also got back his favourite centre-forward position and improved on several aspects of his game.
Under Solskjaer, Martial has turned into a lethal striker and has also massively improved on his work-rate and hold-up play. This has been Martial’s best season, and so far he has scored a total of 22 goals in all competitions. With a couple of Premier League games to go, and the Europa League next month, Martial could take his tally to 25 goals.
The future for Anthony Martial looks very bright but he still needs to work on his consistency. The Frenchman is one of the most technically gifted forwards and has the capability to become a United legend.
