5 reasons why Anthony Martial should leave Manchester United to improve his game

When he signed with Manchester United in the summer of 2015, Anthony Martial appeared to have the world at his feet. He became the world’s most expensive teenager at £36m and appeared to be the centerpiece of then-boss Louis Van Gaal’s new-look attack as United attempted to get back into the Champions League.

Since then, plenty has changed for the French youngster. He did well initially at United, but since Jose Mourinho took over the reins at the club in the summer of 2016, he’s found it harder and harder to keep a spot in the starting line-up; Zlatan Ibrahimovic and now Romelu Lukaku became the top striker, while Martial has had to grapple with fellow young gun Marcus Rashford for a spot usually on the left side of attacking midfield.

Martial has started this season in better form – he’s started 13 Premier League games and has scored 11 goals in all competitions – but would he be better off making a move away from Old Trafford? Quite possibly, and here are five reasons why.

---

#1 Mourinho doesn’t really develop players

Jose Mourinho isn't renowned for developing young players

One of the biggest criticisms of current United boss Jose Mourinho is that he’s a chequebook manager who doesn’t really help his players to develop. Realistically, that could be an unfair knock on the Portuguese boss, as plenty of his players in the past would probably have said he’d helped their development massively – the likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry, for instance. But does he really encourage the development of young players?

The answer would really have to be no. Mourinho gives his players added confidence and in the majority of cases, he’s got a tremendous ability to get the best out of what they already have. But outright improving players – particularly younger ones – isn’t really the best part of his toolkit. Compare his work with a youngster like Rashford to what Mauricio Pochettino has done with the likes of Harry Kane, or what Pep Guardiola has done to Raheem Sterling, and it becomes pretty clear.

With Mourinho having signed a new deal with United this month, perhaps it’d be in Martial’s best interests to move away from his current manager – after all, the Portuguese have already criticised Martial on a number of occasions, and his tolerance of younger players still learning their craft is often relatively low. If Mourinho remains at Old Trafford, then maybe it’d be best for Martial’s development if he moved away.

#2 There’s too much competition at United

Martial is competing with the likes of Marcus Rashford for a spot at United

When Martial signed for United in 2015 for such a huge transfer fee, he probably believed that he was going to be their main man going forward for the foreseeable future. At that stage, Wayne Rooney was United’s main striker and he was clearly aging, and Marcus Rashford hadn’t even broken through into the United first team. Martial was not only a buy for the future, but he was also supposed to be the present, too.

And for the most part, he delivered – he appeared in the majority of United’s league games, scored 11 goals, and generally acquitted himself well. But when Louis Van Gaal – the man who bought him – departed in the summer of 2016 and Jose Mourinho arrived, things changed dramatically. Arriving with Mourinho was Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and right away Martial was no longer the top striker, instead of competing with Rashford and Rooney for the attacking berths alongside Zlatan.

Since then, things have gotten worse – Rooney has left, but Zlatan and Rashford remain, and now United have added Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez too. This means that Martial is essentially a spare part, unable to play the role of lone striker that Lukaku or Ibrahimovic can, and behind Sanchez and probably Rashford in the pecking order in attacking midfield. United simply have an embarrassment of riches, but that means Martial could be left in the cold. Why risk his development, then, by staying?

#3 United can sign whoever they want

United can sign who they want - as evidenced by their purchase of Alexis Sanchez

Leading on from the previous slide, the other problem that Martial has is the issue of United being such a powerful club that they can essentially sign whichever players they wish. Not only do they have the financial clout of a Manchester City or a PSG, but they also have the history and glamour of a Real Madrid or Barcelona – making them an attractive proposition for any big-name player.

So in a nutshell, if a big-money transfer doesn’t work out for United, it doesn’t matter – they can simply spend millions on a replacement. We saw this just last week. Henrikh Mkhitaryan wasn’t quite doing the business, so United simply sent him packing and spent a huge amount on Alexis Sanchez instead. The problem this leads to is this: if Sanchez doesn’t work out, would United try to push someone like Martial forward? Or would they simply buy someone else?

The likelihood is that the answer would be the latter. Which means for someone like Martial – who’s already on the periphery of the first team rather than being one of the first names on the teamsheet – it becomes even harder to become a key player at a team like United. When you’ve potentially got every player in the world ahead of you – should United choose to sign them – then it might be too difficult and it could be a better idea to simply move on.

#4 He’s young enough to step down and then step back up

Martial's current teammate Romelu Lukaku developed his game at a smaller club in his youth

For many players, it’d be very hard to stomach a move away from a club the size of Manchester United. When United sell a player – unless it’s a move like Cristiano Ronaldo’s to Real Madrid – it usually means you haven’t been able to cut it at Old Trafford. The likes of Wes Brown and Danny Welbeck, for instance, were pretty much disposed of when their limitations were exposed at United.

While the same could be said if United were to sell Martial, he’s got one massive advantage over those kinds of players, and that’s his young age. At just 22 years old, he’s nowhere near his prime yet and most likely has a lot of development in his game yet to come. So if he did take a step down – and nobody’s suggesting the Championship, more a slightly smaller club abroad or perhaps a smaller Premier League side – then it wouldn’t be a stretch to think he could find himself at another superclub in a handful of years.

Look at his current teammate Romelu Lukaku, for instance – he was allowed to leave a massive club in Chelsea because he didn’t seem to be quite good enough for their expectations, but then he developed so well at Everton that United was willing to part with £75m for him just a few years later. The same could easily be said about Martial in years to come if he were to become a key player at a smaller side, rather than a bit-part at Old Trafford.

#5 There’d be less pressure on him elsewhere

The pressure that comes with playing for United is a massive weight on a young player

Despite their downturn in fortunes since the departure of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2013, Manchester United remain undoubtedly the biggest club in England. It might be painful for fans of sides like Chelsea and Tottenham to admit, but the global power of United is pretty much untouchable, and their fanbase is as big as any other club on the planet. But that isn’t always a good thing for their players and manager.

Since the departure of Ferguson we’ve seen three bosses struggle to live up to expectation, and players who looked great at other clubs – the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Morgan Schneiderlin, Juan Mata and even Paul Pogba in his early United days – have struggled under the weight of the United shirt. And while Martial seemed to take to it like a duck to water at first, as his form has worn off slightly he’s seemingly found the pressure of being a United player harder.

A move to another club would ease that pressure massively – even if it were to another Premier League title contender like Arsenal or Tottenham, or a foreign side challenging for a title like Atletico Madrid or Bayern Munich. The pressure at United is really only comparable to that at Real Madrid and Barcelona, and for a young player, it can be stifling. If he wants to develop his game while not being under such an intense microscope, then perhaps it’d be a good idea for Martial to move on.