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What's the story?
After Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer challenged Anthony Martial to replicate Cristiano Ronaldo's progress earlier today, it was found that the Frenchman has better statistics in the Premier League than the five-time Ballon d'Or winning Portuguese.
In case you didn't know...
Martial has signed a new contract with the Red Devils on Thursday, in a deal that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2024, with the option to extend another year.
The Frenchman has scored eight goals in the Premier League this season and the new coach has found a way to make the forward commit his future to the club despite initial uncertainties.
After the contract confirmation, Solskjaer had challenged Martial to replicate former United star Ronaldo's career development saying (via Sky Sports), "I'm here to help players, to guide players until the summer and I think when you sit him down and talk to him, for example, about Cristiano's career, what he's made of his career and how he's got there and we talk about all the fantastic players with the history they've got, I think Anthony just said, 'If I can be a part of this I'd like to'".
"That's up to any player, how you make a decision on how to develop your own career. Cristiano was the best, the way he's changed to now; that's part of any player - you've got to model yourself on someone and you've got to have more challenges ahead of you."
The heart of the matter
The Daily Mail UK has now reported that Martial actually has better statistics in the English top flight than United legend Ronaldo after the same number of appearances.
The report claims that Martial has played 104 league games for Manchester United and has scored 10 more than when Cristiano Ronaldo had played the same number of games, with 32. The Frenchman also registered two more assists (16) than the Portuguese (14).
The United forward has also achieved all this in less time than Ronaldo. While Martial's total appearances equal to 6958 minutes, the Juventus star's total Premier League appearances equates to 7051.
The only thing Ronaldo has over Martial is the number of chances created, with the former Los Blancos star having created 149 chances for his team while Martial stands at 122 chances.
What's next?
Having signed a new deal at Old Trafford, Martial can now focus solely on the game. He has all the potential to become one of the greatest players in the world.
