Why Martial Would Do Well To Choose Arsenal Over Barcelona
Anthony Martial is a well-known commodity in the Premier League and is viewed as one of the most exciting prospects in world football. Ever since his arrival from AS Monaco in the summer of 2015, the Frenchman has had a tremendous impact for Manchester United, especially under former coach Louis van Gaal. In his debut game, he dribbled past 3 Liverpool players to score a wonderful game that instantly made him a darling to the United faithful. He finished that season with 17 goals in total and was the club’s highest goalscorer and won the FA Cup in May as well.
However, a lot has changed since then. Jose Mourinho arrived in 2016 and firmly relegated Martial to the bench. The Portuguese found him unsuitable for his tactics and focused more on playing Jesse Lingard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front, something that did not go down well with the player. This season, he has been used more but mostly as a super sub, coming off the bench in 8 of his 11 appearances.
His statistics are quite impressive though: he has notched up 5 goals and 6 assists already and has been tearing down defences alongside Heinrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelu Lulaku. Although rumors of an impending transfer have been quelled by Mourinho itself, some media sources are reporting that the starlet may be eager to move to a new club and that Barcelona and Arsenal are already courting him.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager apparently views the Frenchman as a long-term replacement for Alexis Sanchez. Having had a history of nurturing exciting French talents, the former Monaco boss is eager to sign Martial and hand him the role that is most likely to be vacated by the Chilean at the end of the season. Barcelona coach Ernesto Valdeverde views Martial as a part of the new spine that he is trying to build at the club, and places him alongside Ousmane Dembele as the successor to the famous MSN trio.
All things considered, it makes more sense for Martial to join the Gunners than the Cules. At the London club, he will join his national teammates Alexandre Lacazette, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny. The duo of Lacazette and Martial could click very well. Both of them are capable of playing anywhere across the frontline and will complement each other very well. Also, he will relish playing under someone like Koscielny, who is a senior in the national team as well.
Moreover, at the Emirates, Martial will have the freedom to play as he pleases, in a system which will nurture his on-the-ball abilities and lethal finishing. At Barcelona however, he will have to serve as an understudy to Leo Messi and Luis Suarez in a system that prefers high-pressing and possession over individual skill. As such, in the unlikely scenario that he does move, Arsenal will be the best destination for the 21-year-old.
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