Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said that Anthony Martial remains part of his plans next season despite the club’s ongoing search for a new striker.
Martial had a disappointing 2022/23 campaign with the Red Devils. He contributed nine goals and three assists, but missed a staggering 29 games due to injuries.
The Frenchman has just returned to team training after a hamstring injury lay-off and speaking in a press conference, Ten Hag admitted that a fit striker is essential for winning trophies.
He said: “Today he was in the team training, so that is really hopeful.”
“And, yeah, of course, when you have player in a squad you expect that he is available and then the players have to take the responsibility to be available.
“But when he’s not I have to deal with the situation and we show that we also then can be successful without that striker.
“But yeah, of course, it’s more easy when you have that striker in your team because I think every club who wins big trophies has scoring abilities in that team.”
When asked about Martial’s future at the club, the manager added that he is a ‘brilliant football player’ with all-round attributes and hopefully, he can stay fit for the whole season.
He replied: “We need a good squad and Anthony Martial is a brilliant football player and so he will help us.”
“He scored goals and also in other areas of football like pressing, in possession, combinations, he’s a great player and, yeah, let’s hope he will be fit and he stays fit.”
Ten Hag has already admitted that the club are trying to pursue a new centre-forward. When pressed on the topic, the Dutch tactician said that the search is ongoing.
He added: “We make progress, yeah, but you know how it works. When we have him, we will tell you.”
Martial could play back-up role to new striker
The Frenchman was handed the chance to cement the number nine role last season. He had a bright pre-season, but got injured in the penultimate friendly game against Atletico.
The 27-year-old made his comeback with an assist in the 2-1 win over Liverpool in August, but got himself injured again. This trend continued for the rest of the campaign.
Ten Hag will now handle him with caution. He made his comeback to full training yesterday, but the manager does not plan to play him until he is fully assured of his fitness.
Jadon Sancho has been experimented in the false nine role in the last few friendlies, and the position could become permanent for him if they can continue to impress.
Regardless of this, the new striker should be pretty much guaranteed with the starting role. Atalanta’s Rasmus Hojlund is the top target but United won’t pay over the odds.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
