There’s a back page from the Daily Mirror which is dug out by Manchester United fans whenever Anthony Martial does something positive – and that includes signing a new contract as he did on Thursday.
In black and white the headline declares ‘What a Waste of Money – Manchester United paid three times over the odds for Martial…and then shelled out more than any team in Europe on transfer failures’.
Now that particular failure has signed a contract which will expire in 2024. Widely welcomed by fans, it is yet more evidence of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer getting things right. Ed Woodward also deserves credit for refusing to sell the exciting young Parisian last summer when he was so fed up with life at United that he wanted to leave.
OFFICIAL: Anthony Martial has signed a new five-year contract at Man United, keeping him at the club until 2024. ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/3UnTC1gDlQ
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) January 31, 2019
Things are now going much better for Martial and while the 23-year-old didn’t start in Tuesday’s draw against Burnley, he’s started in five of Solskjaer’s seven league game (he was ill for the other one he missed). He’s expected to be fit for the game at Leicester on Sunday and he’s been playing well, though he could be scoring more.
His manager likes him and when I asked Solskjaer about Martial recently, he said: “Anthony can play as a No 9, of course, because he’s got strength and he’s good at holding the ball up. But he is fantastic at one-one-ones, so he can also play on the left or right wing.
“I’ve had chats with him and he can play in all those positions. As a defender you don’t want to be dropping off towards your own goal with him running at you. We need to get Anthony facing forwards. I realised when I was a striker that when I ended up wide on the left or right, it can be so much easier to get space and face defenders up. I think Anthony enjoys playing wide, taking players on.”
Ahead of the Leicester game, Solskjaer returned again to what Martial could do to improve. “I’d like him (Martial) to make more runs in behind because he doesn’t miss chances, he’s a fantastic finisher, he needs to get more chances, you’ve got to read and sniff wherever there’s a chance, maybe some scruffy goals at times".
Martial: “Happy to continue playing for many years in the best club in the world.” #mufc [Ig] pic.twitter.com/GJNyC8V0CR
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) January 31, 2019
Martial has scored 46 goals in 161 games for United, 118 of them starts, but if he’s as good as we think he can be, he’s got to be doing what his manager says. The environment is there and fans know a lot more about him than they did after that dismissive Mirror back page in 2015.
Plenty of United fans would have agreed with the sentiment. To digress for a moment, journalists don’t write the headlines to their articles. Editors do that job, usually to garner the most interest and especially so for a tabloid newspaper. My editor on this column wanted the headline ‘Manchester United sign Lionel Messi on deadline day’ but decided against it.
In 2015, plenty of fans did think United had overpaid for Martial, just as they said that Victor Lindelof would never be good for United after a handy of dodgy games when he first came to Manchester. They were wrong there, too, yet even a year ago Martial wasn’t considered good enough by many fans as things weren’t going well for him.
That’s when I went to his home banlieu of Les Ulis outside Paris and spoke to people about him and they all praised his talent and potential. United fans knew him well by that time, unlike in 2015 when most had not seen him starring for Monaco against Juventus or Monaco against Valencia. United had and sent representatives to do the deal.
Ole on Anthony Martial: "He's a fantastic finisher, he has great ability, he's intelligent and he knows his football. I've not seen many players with the quick feet and skills in the last third that he has." #MUFC pic.twitter.com/vLoCqyKSea
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 1, 2019
In contrast, Dimitar Berbatov told me that Martial was one to watch: “I went into the first training session and saw Anthony Martial, James Rodriguez, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Carrasco, Bernardo Silva. These young players were flying around me and I was thinking ‘What the fuck? I am too old or are these guys too good.’ Martial had something special and he’s developed. He’ll develop even more.”
Berbatov recognised from the start how fast and strong he was. He picked out one quality Martial was lacking – confidence. Berbatov liked to play in defence in training, as it helped him work out how they would try to stop him.
He told me: “Martial would come towards with me the ball. Sometimes he hesitated, he didn’t want to take me on because he thought I was going to take his ball. The self-belief was not there. I would say ‘Anto, you are so quick, you can go past me. Don’t me afraid to do that to every player because you are so quick.’ He’s a top guy.”
Anthony Martial’s new mixtape looks straight fire What’s your favourite track? #mufc pic.twitter.com/3CxekVL20C
— ManUnitedZone (@ManUnitedZone_) January 31, 2019
Eric Abidal also told me that United had bought a player who could develop to match the best and had the personal attributes to do so. “But more important is the humility and he has that. He’s focuses on his goals: he wants to be the best striker in the world and he worked for that. He has a mix of Henry and Rooney. He has agility, power, he can go one against one.
"When he arrives in front of the goalkeeper, he’s calm and makes the right decision. I played with Martial for one year in Monaco so I know what he’s like. He was in Lyon too, they were crazy to sell him. To be the best player in the world, he needs to spend five or six years in Manchester like Ronaldo did. Manchester is good with young players. Or even stay in Manchester and be a legend of Manchester.”
Martial now has another five years at old Trafford. He has yet to reach his potential, but it’s a vast potential and one which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is unlocking. Andy Cole, who like Solskjaer knows a thing or two about strikers, gave me his take on the Frenchman recently.
“He’s a flair player who needs to have the opportunity to express himself. He’s young, but he could become whatever he wants to become and he looks a lot happier now.”
There’s a buzz around the club under the Norwegian and a buzz with Martial too. Let’s hope that feeds into more wins and excellent Martial performances. He’s certainly got the talent and nothing would be more sweeter than him showing that against Paris Saint-Germain, his local club who overlooked him as youngster.
