Manchester United attacker Anthony Martial has managed to regain the number nine shirt following the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan on Thursday.
The Frenchman initially wore the number during his first season with the club between 2015 and 2016 and he made an impressive impact with 17 goals across all competitions for the side.
However, he had to sacrifice the jersey thereafter with the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the summer of 2016 before Lukaku took the shirt away from the Swede a year later.
As such, Martial has been waiting for a considerable period of time to reclaim the shirt and it remains to be seen whether he can revive the form from his debut campaign.
#AM9 ?@AnthonyMartial #MUFC pic.twitter.com/df3xEuyMXS
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 9, 2019
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shown a keen intent on working with the young players from the beginning of pre-season, and handing Martial with his preferred jersey shows an enormous amount of faith placed on the shoulders of the Frenchman.
Still, Martial needs to meet the expectations of both the manager and the fans by leading the attack with consistent performances through the campaign, which has not been the case in the past few years.
Martial should start upfront against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea on Sunday and hopefully, he can make the difference with his goalscoring following the likely boost in morale.
The 23-year-old fared impressively in his previous appearance against the Blues as he bagged a brace in a thrilling 2-2 Premier League draw at Stamford Bridge last season.
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