Anthony Martial

Anthony Joran Martial is a French professional football player. He was born on 5 December 1995 in Massy, Essonne, France. He mainly plays the role of a forward and is currently playing for Premier League club Manchester United and the France national team.

He started his career in the year 2001 at an early age of six with the French association football club CO Les Ulis. At the age of 12, Martial trialled at Manchester City.

Debut

On September 21, 2010 Martial made his debut for the national team with its U-16 squad and scored nine goals in seventeen matches he played there.

On September 27, 2011, Martial made his debut for the national team’s U-17 squad and again scored nine goals for this category this time in thirteen matches.

He was then transferred to U-18 squad and played for it for the first time in September 6, 2012 and went on to score three goals in four matches. His team before his senior career were U-19 and U-21 and he debuted for them on July 20, 2013 and August 13, 2013 respectively. On 26 August 2015, Martial joined the main France national team for the first time and debuted with the friendly win against Portugal on September 4, 2015.

Rise to glory

He scored five goals in the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and helped France top their qualification group. Two of the goals came in a 5–0 win over the Faroe Islands and rest three resulted from a hat-trick against Northern Ireland in Luxembourg. Finally he scored two more goals in the elite round against Switzerland and Sweden to confirm qualification. He netted once more in the group stage exit at the final tournament held in Slovenia.

In the 2013 European Championship held in Lithuania, Martial played all five games for France under-19 helping his team in finishing as runners-up to Serbia. He was selected best player in the 2012 edition of UEFA European Under-19 Championships.

On 11 October 2015, Martial assisted the opening goal by Olivier Giroud in a 2–1 win against Denmark at Parken Stadium, Copenhagen. Due to his good per performances in the 2015–2016 season in his club Manchester United he was selected in the Euro 2016 squad.

Club career

In 2009, he joined the Olympique Lyonnais academy in the U-17 squad. He scored 32 goals in 21 games of his club and thus got selected into the France national under-17 football team for the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship that was to be held in Slovenia. Thereafter on July 1, 2012, he joined the B category of the club and made his professional senior debut on 6th December 2012 with a Europa League group stage match against Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona.

On July 1, 2013 he was transferred to AS Monaco in a three year deal and worth of € 5 million.

On 24 November, he first time played for them. He scored three goals in four matches he played there. On 30th November, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win over Rennes.

On 1 September 2015 Martial joined Manchester United in a £36 million - £58 million worth deal lasting four years. Not to mention that there were three bonus clauses worth £7.2 million each in his contract.

He debuted for the team on 12th September in premier league match against rivals Liverpool held at Old Trafford and scored the final goal on debut helping his team get a 3–1 win.

In a group stage match of the Champions League being played against CSKA Moscow on 21st October, Martial gave away a penalty and later equalised to confirm a 1–1 draw. For this he won Golden Boy award which is Europe's best under-21 player.

On 23rd April 2016, Martial helped his club in a 2–1 win against Everton in the FA Cup semi-final match held at Wembley Stadium.

He finished the season as the club's top scorer in all competitions.

Records

Martial’s Transfer to Manchester United on 1 September 2015 for £36 million, with potential of being raised to £58 million was the highest transfer fee paid for a teenager, breaking the previous record of £27 million paid by the same United for Luke Shaw.