IF YOU CAN’T judge a book by its cover, then you probably shouldn’t evaluate a 19-year-old based on his price tag.
However, plenty of people mocked Man United for paying €49.8million — potentially rising to €80million — for a teenager that many football fans had never heard of.
Yet, after the disbelief that greeted his transfer, suddenly the jokes are quietening.
Martial has started his Premier League career impressively, managing three goals in two appearances thus far, including a match-winning brace at Southampton yesterday.
Sky pundit and former United defender Gary Neville summed up most people’s thoughts after yesterday’s game when he said: “To be redundant in the game for 30 minutes and then show that composure and class at that moment says a lot about him. He’s made a big impression on all of us.”
Despite being compared by some people to a young Thierry Henry, the consensus view in the immediate aftermath of the Martial deal was that he was raw player, far from the 20-goal-a-season man United arguably need following the sales of Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez, coupled with the unconvincing recent form of Wayne Rooney.
There was no shortage of negative publicity following Martial’s Old Trafford arrival — a study indicated they had overpaid for the teenager by €28million. Even Louis van Gaal seemingly attempted to dampen expectations somewhat, claiming the France-born striker had been bought for his successor.
So most of the evidence didn’t really suggest the Massy-born player could adapt so quickly and finish so clinically at such an early stage of his career at United.
Martial certainly demonstrated a knack for goalscoring at youth level, however. After being spotted by Lyon scouts aged 14 in 2009, the player went on to score 32 goals in 21 games for the side’s U17 team. The striker made his senior debut as recently as 2012, coming on for the last 10 minutes of a Europa League game and appearing sporadically for the club thereafter.
In 2013, he joined Monaco for €5million while still only 17. In total, he would subsequently score 11 goals in 49 appearances for the club — a record that’s superb for someone of his age, while indicating he still has some way to go before becoming a top player.
Many people expected Martial to be a relatively peripheral member of Man United’s squad initially at least, given his age and lack of experience with Premier League football.
Yet on the evidence of the glimpses we’ve seen so far, Martial looks capable of making an even greater initial impact than many would have thought possible.
The assured manner in which he took his chances suggested we were watching a prolific goalscorer in the making, while he also adds a much-needed degree of pace to the United attack that had been previously lacking.
Coach Louis van Gaal was understandably delighted with what he saw, telling reporters after the game:
“I’m very happy that he is in three matches and his talent is at a high level and he adapts to the system of how we want to play, that is also important, not every player can adapt in that system but he shows he wants to do that and he can do that.”
Suddenly, the sniggers can no longer be heard as United seem to have a real player on their hands.
Still, a level of caution remains paramount. With Rooney off form, James Wilson seemingly off the radar and Marouane Fellaini surely little more than a makeshift forward, the pressure may increase on Martial to keep delivering.
But despite being football’s most expensive teenager ever, at 19, he cannot be expected to come up with match-winning performances on a consistent basis yet, with the aforementioned players needing to take their share of responsibility to alleviate the burden on the youngster’s shoulders.
Nonetheless, the optimism regarding Martial among United supporters has justifiably increased following recent displays. Neville in particular epitomised what makes him unique for such a young player following the Southampton win.
“Martial looks cold,” the pundit said, of Martial’s reaction following his first goal yesterday. “He isn’t overcome with emotion and that’s a good sign.”
