I think it'd be a good move for all parties, Martial would do very well in Italy where his "economy of movement" would not be as much of a hindrance as it is here.
Martial agent looking for a new club for him
- Thread starter dinostar77
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It's not like Greenwood isn't getting minutes. He's one of the first names on the team sheet now.
We missed the boat here. Danny Ings would be a good back up striker to Cavani and Greenwood spread over the course of our season. He went for relatively small money.
Martial has been at the club around 6 years, he has had good spells but he has been terrible and sulky at times. I always ask if we sell a player will it come back to haunt us and with Martial I believe it will not.
Wouldn't be bothered about replacing him. Let amad and elanga have his minutes and spend the money on trippier and a midfielder.
After yesterday's game he was constantly rotating with Greenwood, and no reason either of those lads couldn't play that role. Our front 3 is likely to be Sancho, Cavani and Greenwood anyway.
After yesterday's game he was constantly rotating with Greenwood, and no reason either of those lads couldn't play that role. Our front 3 is likely to be Sancho, Cavani and Greenwood anyway.
Coming off of injury and a bad season, no concrete links for him, nor for the club looking for a striker - I doubt he's leaving. It just doesn't make any sense and it goes against what Ole's said about squad depth and his desire to be covered in all positions. Tony's talented and there's still some lingering hope that he'll improve on his first full season under Ole.
Definitely next season will be determining for his future. I doubt we'll actively try to move him away, even if he's doesn't hit top form. With Cavani leaving and probably looking to bring a top replacement, Greenwood hopefully stepping up his contributions from CF, we may find it needless to bring in a second striker to replace Anthony and we could feel content that he sits on the bench as 3rd striking option. That scenario may not suit with Martial and he might start looking more actively for a new club, which saves us the work and maybe makes it easier to demand a higher fee for him.
Definitely next season will be determining for his future. I doubt we'll actively try to move him away, even if he's doesn't hit top form. With Cavani leaving and probably looking to bring a top replacement, Greenwood hopefully stepping up his contributions from CF, we may find it needless to bring in a second striker to replace Anthony and we could feel content that he sits on the bench as 3rd striking option. That scenario may not suit with Martial and he might start looking more actively for a new club, which saves us the work and maybe makes it easier to demand a higher fee for him.
I can't believe someone offered 50m. Give me the coordinates and I'll take him myself.
Cavani, Greenwood, Elanga and Rashford are all better options up top than Martial.
Rashy, Greenwood, Sancho, Elanga, Pogba and Amad deserve to be ahead of Martial for the wide positions.
Martial's only reason for being in the squad would be because he has the second best holdup play (after Cavani). 50m and getting rid of his ridiculous salary is too much to pass up on for player like that.
We'll get a CF next year. Someone like Haaland is actually not that great at receiving the ball with his back to the goal, so we might as well get used to playing with CFs that don't have that one trait Martial is second best at.
Cavani, Greenwood, Elanga and Rashford are all better options up top than Martial.
Rashy, Greenwood, Sancho, Elanga, Pogba and Amad deserve to be ahead of Martial for the wide positions.
Martial's only reason for being in the squad would be because he has the second best holdup play (after Cavani). 50m and getting rid of his ridiculous salary is too much to pass up on for player like that.
We'll get a CF next year. Someone like Haaland is actually not that great at receiving the ball with his back to the goal, so we might as well get used to playing with CFs that don't have that one trait Martial is second best at.
Yeah right. We have Cavani would isnt even ready for the season and Rashford who isnt a 9. Doubt we will sell Martial
I don't see how we can sell him with Martial out.
We would then end up having to play Dan James in games. That would be really bad
We would then end up having to play Dan James in games. That would be really bad
Yep, and plus Cavani can't play 2 games a week, no doubt he will get injured at some point this season.
I don't think the depth argument applies, I think if there is a reasonable offer and chance to shift this player and his wages we will do it. It may mean getting in a lesser name striker for the short term, but let's be honest, Igahlo would have done as well as Martial last season, he scored hardly any goals. I don't think it would be too hard to replace what Martial gives, which is why he's representing terrible value to us at the moment. He'll be gone if there's a good offer but chances are there won't be, there isn't a queue around the block for an underperformer.
Always loan deals with Italians.
They're getting €100+ million from Chelsea. They have money to reinvest.
Yeah, there’s no chance we will. He’s also on a bit of a hefty wage too. If he has another stinker season (I don’t really think he will), then he’s off next summer.
Would be stupid at this point. We have a bucket load of wingers but no one apart from Cavani that can play the 9 role. I like Greenwood way better on the right
Oh, so there are links about him going away.
Who could we bring on such short notice that won't break the bank and we'll be a good option?
Who could we bring on such short notice that won't break the bank and we'll be a good option?
Its all if's and but's....
Simple fact is - if he continues to play like he did for the last two years, we should snap Inters hands off.
But - should he start to dig his heels and work his ass off, there is a undeniable talent there.
Just the matter of work and mind.
Is he in the right state of mind?
Hope Ole knows.
Simple fact is - if he continues to play like he did for the last two years, we should snap Inters hands off.
But - should he start to dig his heels and work his ass off, there is a undeniable talent there.
Just the matter of work and mind.
Is he in the right state of mind?
Hope Ole knows.
Id go for Alexander Isak as a right footed striker that replaces Martial and then sign Haaland to replace Cavani. I don't think he would break the bank too much.
Sell James to even things out a little.
Not realistic though.
Haven't seen him play. Haven't seen many games except our games in the last year or so. Will check some highlights.
Not sure we're selling James this summer. Maybe next, when Amad and Pellistri get more experience.
We didn't miss him at all last season and honestly he was poor last season in every games and probably the only games I can remember he was good were the City away and Aston Villa home games. If Inter want him then we should tell them to either buy or loan with option of obligation to buy. If we sell him then buy a DM or a midfielder, push Pogba as LW option and have Cavani, Rashford, Greenwood as our striker option while Haaland will be a long term striker option as he will be available next year.
None of Greenwood, Elanga or Rashford have ever performed as well up front as Martial has done. Cavani hasn't performed as well for us as Martial has.
None of Greenwood, Elanga, Pogba or Amad have performed as well out wide as Martial has done.
Martial had a shit last season. Before that he'd been our best player over the previous season. If he can get back to that form he is easily ahead of almost everyone you mention. The big question is whether he will get back to that and nobody can know that for sure, but pretending it's simply not an option is ridiculous. If we get a big offer then it's something we'd have to think about since he has unfortunately been inconsistent, but you are going way overboard.
Oh, and Martial's hold-up play is comfortably better than Cavani's most of the time. He is inconsistent with it, but he's the only player in our team capable of actually having good (or even decent) hold-up play and bringing other players into the game. Greenwood and Rashford are both very poor at it, and Cavani is average at best.
I think you'd be mad to buy isak, or one of these other players who have been suggested as Martial replacements, and expect them to match Martial's output in goals and assists this season. Isak is good but raw, and I don't think he's even better than Martial at dribbling - which is his main strength. You can't expect a 21 year old striker to come in from Sociedad as 2nd or 3rd choice and make an impact in front of goal.
If you're gonna get Martial out now it's only value if we get someone cheaper and premier-league proven in to replace him - someone who you could trust to start 1 game in 3 and still score like 10 goals. So someone like Chris Wood or Danny Ings (at Villa now). I don't think there are options that would definitely improve our team and make financial sense.
Straight swap for Barella.
How old are you? Were you around for Rashford's debut?Martial has been here for 6 years, he obviously has had some great performances up top. He also had a lot of shit ones, like the entirety of last season. It's not like apart from last season Martial was consistently good, more like hit and miss.
Rashford, Greenwood and James were all better out wide last season and even Amad and Elanga have looked better in their limited appearances. Mata was just as productive as Martial if you look at goals assists per minutes played (with Dan fecking James being twice as productive as both of them)
Stop living in the past. Last season Martial had one good game against City because he's big, strong and has a good touch. He looks like he can't be arsed for a very long time now.
Martial has been here for 6 years, he obviously has had some great performances up top. He also had a lot of shit ones, like the entirety of last season. It's not like apart from last season Martial was consistently good, more like hit and miss.
Rashford, Greenwood and James were all better out wide last season and even Amad and Elanga have looked better in their limited appearances. Mata was just as productive as Martial if you look at goals assists per minutes played (with Dan fecking James being twice as productive as both of them)
Stop living in the past. Last season Martial had one good game against City because he's big, strong and has a good touch. He looks like he can't be arsed for a very long time now.
Rashford can't hold the ball up. He's good at running in behind. 80% of games we will have no space in behind, so Rashford is not gonna be useful as a no9.
Greenwood is also best with the ball at his feet running at a defence. He isn't gonna get many of those opportunities as a no9. All his best games for us so far have been off the right, cos he has more space there.
Elanga has played 2 competitive games for us.
None of them have shown that they are able to play regularly as a lone striker. Martial has. Therefore it would be a massive risk to sell Martial - fortunately it's a risk Ole is not going to take. Because why would he? It would just mean weakening our team for no reason.
Barella's a creative box to box, isn't he? Wouldn't this be swapping a player in a position we're short for a player in a position we're stacked in?
Rashford was good when he broke through up front, but certainly not to the level of Martial in 19/20. Martial was literally our best player over the course of the season and was the main one driving us to the CL spots for the final month or two of the season.
Martial has been here for 6 years, he obviously has had some great performances up top. He also had a lot of shit ones, like the entirety of last season. It's not like apart from last season Martial was consistently good, more like hit and miss.
Rashford, Greenwood and James were all better out wide last season and even Amad and Elanga have looked better in their limited appearances. Mata was just as productive as Martial if you look at goals assists per minutes played (with Dan fecking James being twice as productive as both of them)
Stop living in the past. Last season Martial had one good game against City because he's big, strong and has a good touch. He looks like he can't be arsed for a very long time now.
'Stop living in the past'? We're not talking a couple of seasons here. If it were I would agree with what you are saying. It's been one season of terrible form, which is far too soon to go as ridiculously overboard as what you have. If he can turn it around (and after only one season of poor form there is still a fair chance of that) he is still probably our best striker or at least easily one of our top two. An on-form Martial isn't just better than Rashford or Greenwood up front, he's far better.
Overall Martial has been inconsistent during his time here. He's had two very good seasons, two poor seasons, and two seasons where he's mostly been good but through no real fault of his own wasn't able to maintain it (Mourinho stupidly dropped him when he was easily our best performing attacker, and injuries and illness destroyed the other season). Is it more inconsistent than what we want? Yes of course. Is there an argument for selling him and replacing him with somebody else? Yes. Should we sell him and replace him with players who are nowhere near as good as him when he's performing well? No. But that is what you want to do.
We don't really have a creative box to box who can actually play in the midfield, we have an aging holder and 2 Jack of all trades master of none #8's and Pogba who can't be trusted defensively so needs a more free role, getting Barella would be a proactive step for when Pogba leaves next summer.
Unless he’s agitating for a move why let him go? Depth was our problem last season, and Martial can cover on the left side of our attack and as a no. 9 if needed. He had an unusually poor season by his standards and will definitely get back to his level this season.
I get what you're saying, especially if we lose Pogba, but I feel like this is a window too soon for that move. Also I just have a bad feeling about Italians moving to United on the back of a good international tournament (reminds me of Darmian). I reckon Barella really benefitted from the way Italy's squad fitted together, and I'm not confident that he could come into our squad and have a big immediate impact, which could mean that we just have another box to box player who doesn't really stand out much over McTominay, fred and vdb but who is on big wages and is difficult to shift.
Can’t see us selling or loaning him with Rashford out.
One injury to Cavani and we will be extremely light in the CF position.
On another note, I remember when Scholes suggested Martial was not a traditional or top class CF and therefore we should buy Kane (rather than Sancho).
Now I don’t agree we should have bought him instead of Sancho, however Scholes’ comments about a pure CF got called out a lot here. “The game has moved on from pure CFs, blah blah.”
Well, only a few months later both Chelsea and City are trying to buy traditional CFs for record fees.
One injury to Cavani and we will be extremely light in the CF position.
On another note, I remember when Scholes suggested Martial was not a traditional or top class CF and therefore we should buy Kane (rather than Sancho).
Now I don’t agree we should have bought him instead of Sancho, however Scholes’ comments about a pure CF got called out a lot here. “The game has moved on from pure CFs, blah blah.”
Well, only a few months later both Chelsea and City are trying to buy traditional CFs for record fees.
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Then we better demand a high fee or we stay with him.
As I said in a post a little above, there's still lingering hope that he'll come at the right end.
Many of the games in which we won't have space in behind will be parked busses where good hold up play isn't necessary.
Good hold up play from your CF is nice to have, but not a complete necessity, especially if that CF is below par. Haaland's hold up play isn't that good and Dortmund even went out and bought a CF who's worse at it! (Malen). It's not really Mbappe's strength either. You know, 2 top strikers we should be looking to get next season.
Does Mbappe not get a chance to do so when he plays up top? Martial hasn't attempted to make a run in behind for a long time now btw.
He's looked good though. If Rashy is a reliable 3rd choice, what's wrong with a promising player being 4th choice?
What does able mean?
Having played up top and having convinced are two different things. Lingard has also shown to "be able" to play RW. He's also shown he's shit at it. Martial has never hit any sort of consistency for an extended period of time.
Selling an inconsistent player who has been shite lately and only excels at holding up the ball. Yeah, we might crash the housing market if we're not careful.
50m and his 13m annual salary are two good reasons. Also if he keeps stinking up the place we may never get rid. Right now there's some gullible people out there thinking he can come good. He looks like he can't be arsed, which is why I think he won't come good for us.
Rashford will be back around November. Oh, the absolute horror of having to play Elanga and putting Hugill on the bench if we run into the unlikely scenario of having 2 injuries in the same position within 3 months. My ass will be so clenched if Elanga gets injured and we have to play Hugill or Bruno up top for 10 minutes!
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Good decision-making and hold up play from our striker has been crucial to all the best football we've played over the last few years. When our striker hasn't been good at this, either because they have a terrible touch (Lukaku) or their physique has not been enough to hold of defenders (which I see when Rashford and Greenwood play up front), it has been really hard for us to play out from the back, and teams have been able to keep us under sustained pressure.
Cavani has great decision-making and physicality as well as movement, and maybe he can pass lots of that on to Greenwood/Elanga this year, but it doesn't make sense to sell the one other player we have who can do this.
I reckon Martial will play this season like he has something to prove. I don't buy the 'he doesn't give a shit' line - I think that's the work of idiot pundits and armchair body language experts. In early 2020 I remember him being a monster who was pushing us to win games when noone else was. I just think that he's a form/confidence player who got affected by things this year, just like what happened to Lingard last year.
Martial convinced me as a no9 for a calendar year in 2019-2020. None of Greenwood, Rashford or Elanga have done anything close to that. To sell him would seriously weaken us up top for me. And I doubt we could sell him anyway, as his wages are high and we'd want £50m. Where would he go? Inter are broke.
So we give him another season here, by which point our main target - Haaland - is attainable. We don't go for a stopgap like Chris Wood or a punt like Isak, and we don't stack loads of pressure on Elanga, Amad and James. We continue building our squad in a sensible way.
Selling Martial now would undermine our chances for the new year and would basically be cutting off our nose to spite Martial FC.
Barella was performing well before he moved to Inter though, but I do agree that Italian players don't have the greatest record in travelling well. The way I'm looking at it is an opportunity to get a potentially great addition to the weakest area of the team while moving on a player on huge wages who shrinks when he has to fight for his place. I like Martial but he's at an age where he should be more consistently productive but he's stagnated.
No idea where even to start. As if Cavani would be out for just 10 minutes if he got injured (I know such an unlikely scenario with Cavani’s excellent injury record in the last 3 seasons).Many of the games in which we won't have space in behind will be parked busses where good hold up play isn't necessary.
Good hold up play from your CF is nice to have, but not a complete necessity, especially if that CF is below par. Haaland's hold up play isn't that good and Dortmund even went out and bought a CF who's worse at it! (Malen). It's not really Mbappe's strength either. You know, 2 top strikers we should be looking to get next season.
Does Mbappe not get a chance to do so when he plays up top? Martial hasn't attempted to make a run in behind for a long time now btw.
He's looked good though. If Rashy is a reliable 3rd choice, what's wrong with a promising player being 4th choice?
What does able mean?
Having played up top and having convinced are two different things. Lingard has also shown to "be able" to play RW. He's also shown he's shit at it. Martial has never hit any sort of consistency for an extended period of time.
Selling an inconsistent player who has been shite lately and only excels at holding up the ball. Yeah, we might crash the housing market if we're not careful.
50m and his 13m annual salary are two good reasons. Also if he keeps stinking up the place we may never get rid. Right now there's some gullible people out there thinking he can come good. He looks like he can't be arsed, which is why I think he won't come good for us.
Rashford will be back around November. Oh, the absolute horror of having to play Elanga and putting Hugill on the bench if we run into the unlikely scenario of having 2 injuries in the same position within 3 months. My ass will be so clenched if Elanga gets injured and we have to play Hugill or Bruno up top for 10 minutes!
I wouldn’t even trust the much more proven player Greenwood yet to replace Cavani upfront for several games, and here you are talking about Elanga and Hugill.
Dream on, but we are talking about the real Premier League here, not some U23 competition.
Send him to Paris with cash for Mbappe
Start by reading the post you're quoting.
Rashford will be back around November. Oh, the absolute horror of having to play Elanga and putting Hugill on the bench if we run into the unlikely scenario of having 2 injuries in the same position within 3 months. My ass will be so clenched if Elanga gets injured and we have to play Hugill or Bruno up top for 10 minutes!
That scenario is one where both Cavani and Greenwood get injured and Elanga gets injured mid game before November.
We should decline 50m for Martial and his 13m annual salary. What if Hugill makes a mistake in those 10 minutes in that <1% scenario that Martial would maybe not have made!?
No team needs 4 senior CFs, not even Pep and him doing it because he's overly cautious doesn't mean it plays a factor in his success.
You wouldn't trust Greenwood to replace Cavani up top for several games, yet you trust Martial to do what exactly? Stink up the place like the entirety of last season?
We don’t have 4 senior CFs bloody hell. We have 1,5. Martial (yes last season was rubbish, but after Cavani I still see him as our 2nd best option upfront) - which says more about our lack of world class CF options than about Martial‘s quality.
0,5 is Cavani as even if fit he can‘t start even 3 games in a row.
Elanga is completely unproven and Greenwood is better on the right than upfront.
Cant remember still would be a good sum of money.