Hot prospect.
There was a general sense of surprise when word filtered out on Sunday evening that Manchester United were preparing a fairly sizeable bid for Monaco’s 19-year-old striker Anthony Martial.
In fact, Martial was one of the few strikers in world football who hasn’t been linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer.
And while many suspected that Louis van Gaal would make a late swoop to beef up his frontline, nobody, it would seem, was ITK quite enough to claim that Martial would be a target.
So who is the new United striker?
Claudio Ranieri signed him for Monaco from Lyon for €5m in 2013. It was a huge sum for a 17-year-old.
But Ranieri wasn’t always enamoured with Martial, as this quote suggests:
“He is a great young player with a bright future, but he must change his state of mind. Sometimes the French mentality is ok, today I played well, tomorrow who knows?’ No, you must work hard every day.”
He rose to prominence in France when he was called off the bench to replace a mis-firing Radamel Falcao (sound familiar?) at Nantes. It was a move that suggested Falcao’s time at the club would be coming to an end.
He scored nine league goals in 35 games last season.
He can finish, at least in training sessions.
Reprise parfaite d'@AnthonyMartial sur un centre impeccable !!! pic.twitter.com/sPbpzXMLSD
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) July 7, 2015
He was been called into the French squad for their upcoming friendlies against Portugal and Serbia.
Here are his all important Football Manager stats.
French newspaper l’Equipe reckon the transfer fee is considerably north of the £36m that is being widely reported.
And while Martial’s name came out of nowhere and surprised many, it seems that he is a player United, and Louis van Gaal, have tracked for some time.
£36m fee for Anthony Martial confirmed. On his way to M/C. LVG scouting him for a year. Monaco knocked out of CL brought it to head. #mufc
— Stuart Mathieson (@StuMathieson7) August 31, 2015
#mufc stepped in early for Anthony Martial because others planning to move in next summer.
— Stuart Mathieson (@StuMathieson7) August 31, 2015
Most famously Fergie signed @Cristiano early because others were snooping and critics were shocked at the £12.5m paid then! #mufc
— Stuart Mathieson (@StuMathieson7) August 31, 2015
Tor-Kristian Karlsen, who worked as a scout for Monaco, still feels that Martial’s career could go either way.
Some thoughts on Anthony Martial: in terms of characteristics/role he's something between a second striker & a centre forward. (1/7)
— Tor-Kristian Karlsen (@karlsentk) August 31, 2015
Outstanding features: smart movement, excellent close control/touch (and overall technical ability), makes everything look simple (2/7)
— Tor-Kristian Karlsen (@karlsentk) August 31, 2015
Very strong in 1v1 situations, obviously very quick/change of pace, surprisingly composed in front of goal for such a young player (3/7)
— Tor-Kristian Karlsen (@karlsentk) August 31, 2015
As a vague reference he can in some way be reminiscent of a young Thierry Henry (not the spitting image, but there are similarities) (4/7)
— Tor-Kristian Karlsen (@karlsentk) August 31, 2015
On the flip side there are issues about consistency, ability to impose himself physically and possibly a certain lack of determination (5/7)
— Tor-Kristian Karlsen (@karlsentk) August 31, 2015
As for the price, Monaco clearly believe Martial is to become a world beater in a 1-2 year perspective (many "insiders" seem to agree) (6/7)
— Tor-Kristian Karlsen (@karlsentk) August 31, 2015
So it's all about future projections & pricing of potential. Could be worth 10 million in a year, could be worth 80 million… (7/7)
— Tor-Kristian Karlsen (@karlsentk) August 31, 2015
