Anthony Martial might need a change of scenery to reach his potential
Anthony Martial has been running in the same spot for almost 5 years with Manchester United now, and a change of scenery might be needed soon.
When young Frenchman Anthony Martial burst onto the scene with Manchester United during the 2015-16 Premier League season following an expensive transfer from AS Monaco, we were all thinking: “Oh boy, the Red Devils have themselves a special player here”.
After all, his debut goal against Liverpool will go down in Manchester United folklore as one of the most memorable Old Trafford goals of the modern age. The commentary, of Martin Tyler’s famous “ohhhhh YES! Welcome to Manchester United, Anthony Martial!” is something we all know by heart.
Yet, Anthony Martial’s Manchester United career has stagnated, which comes as a surprise considering the immense amount of talent that he does indeed possess. At one point, in his late teens and early 20’s, he was even a regular for the French national team. He was even in the squad that lost the Euro 2016 final.
Now, Martial being in the French team seems a world away. The forward scored 17 goals in all competitions during his 1st season at Old Trafford – he has actually failed to surpass this total in any season since. This quite visibly highlights his stagnation, especially since he should be heading into his best footballing years right about now.
His lack of identity is certainly one of the biggest issues. Is he a left-winger or a striker? Somewhere in between, it seems. His failure to lock down either position at Manchester United has seen him float back and forth between the 2, not really belonging to either. This has made him a rotation player more than anything.
With Marcus Rashford already surpassing him in a big way and Mason Greenwood looking like he will do the same very soon, it might be the right time for a now-24-year-old Martial to look for a new club, to revive his career somewhat.
He has recently been linked to Inter Milan, although that only comes in the case that Lautaro Martinez leaves the club. While this transfer is definitely unlikely, it shows that there is interest out there for Martial.
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It would be nice to see a once superb talent find his feet again. Anthony Martial is not a poor footballer by any means – he is still capable of the spectacular on occasion – he just is not doing it regularly enough for it to really matter. If he can find a club that suits him a little bit better, his career could really take off, the way we thought it would a few years ago.