“What a waste of money,” exclaimed one back page headline following Manchester United’s then record signing of Anthony Martial. While this might have somewhat excessive, even at the time, it’s fair to say the French teenager arrived in England without much of a background. He was, despite the £36 million fee, an unknown quantity.
Of course, this changed as soon as Martial swept home that famous debut goal against Liverpool in front of the Stretford End. He was Man Utd’s next big thing and he wore number nine on his back, a shirt number laden with history at Old Trafford. This wasn’t an anomaly either, the kind that led William Gallas to take the number 10 shirt at Arsenal or the force that compels N’Golo Kante to pick number 13. Martial was signed as a centre forward. Number nine illustrated this.
Over time, though, he was moved out to the left side, becoming typecast as a winger. Martial still pulled off the off moment of brilliance (see his right footed strike away to Everton two seasons ago or his goal against Cardiff City in Solskjaer’s first game in charge), but the explosiveness with which the Frenchman burst on to the scene was largely lost. Out on the wing Martial, a languid player by nature, was allowed to drift in and out of games.
Scorer of our opening goal ✔️
Winner of today's Man of the Match award ✔️Here's to you, @AnthonyMartial #MUFC #MUTOUR #ICC2019 pic.twitter.com/V7rZtFbkBW
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 25, 2019
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it seems, is attempting to harness Martial’s potential energy as a centre forward again, using the 23-year-old in the role over Man Utd’s pre-season programme. This has raised the prospect of Martial entering the new season as Solskjaer’s first choice striker, moved from his position out wide to give United more thrust.
Until this summer, it had seemed that Marcus Rashford had been anointed Man Utd’s new centre forward in-chief. Solskjaer wasted no time following his appointment late last year in installing the 21-year-old as his man up front, with Rashford vindicating the Norwegian with a series of impressive performances over the winter and into the spring.
Rashford’s performance levels dropped off along with the rest of his Man Utd teammates’ towards the end of the season, but he had already done enough to suggest he’d been wasted by Jose Mourinho in a wide position. The new five-year contract signed by the player at the start of this month hinted at how Solskjaer sees him.
The use of Martial as a centre forward over pre-season might just be about expanding options. With Romelu Lukaku expected to be sold before the close of the transfer window, Solskjaer needs to find another player who can lead the line. Not only that, he needs a player who can do that in the style he wants his team to implement.
@AnthonyMartial was named today’s ICC Man of the Match! #MUFC pic.twitter.com/IyQkWDgEUo
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) July 25, 2019
Alexis Sanchez might have been a more orthodox choice to serve as Man Utd’s second striker, but the Chilean seems to have lost a yard or two of pace of late. Increasingly, it appears he is running in lead boots, deceiving us into thinking he is running fast through the number of times he pumps his arms.
Martial, on the other hand, would allow Solskjaer to stick with the same strategy of getting in behind at speed even in the event of an injury to or suspension of his first pick centre forward, Rashford. There would at least be more stylistic consistency than there was last season when the Norwegian had to switch between Rashford and Lukaku leading the line.
Nobody says Martial was a waste of money anymore. By today’s standards, £36 million for a player of the Frenchman’s natural ability and potential represents a bargain. But at the same time, there lingers a feeling that he could be contributing more. Solskjaer, it seems, has a plan to get the best out of Martial and on the basis of pre-season the solution to the player’s future could in fact lie in his past.
