5 reasons why Anthony Martial should leave Manchester United to improve his game

#2 There’s too much competition at United

Martial is competing with the likes of Marcus Rashford for a spot at United

When Martial signed for United in 2015 for such a huge transfer fee, he probably believed that he was going to be their main man going forward for the foreseeable future. At that stage, Wayne Rooney was United’s main striker and he was clearly aging, and Marcus Rashford hadn’t even broken through into the United first team. Martial was not only a buy for the future, but he was also supposed to be the present, too.

And for the most part, he delivered – he appeared in the majority of United’s league games, scored 11 goals, and generally acquitted himself well. But when Louis Van Gaal – the man who bought him – departed in the summer of 2016 and Jose Mourinho arrived, things changed dramatically. Arriving with Mourinho was Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and right away Martial was no longer the top striker, instead of competing with Rashford and Rooney for the attacking berths alongside Zlatan.

Since then, things have gotten worse – Rooney has left, but Zlatan and Rashford remain, and now United have added Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez too. This means that Martial is essentially a spare part, unable to play the role of lone striker that Lukaku or Ibrahimovic can, and behind Sanchez and probably Rashford in the pecking order in attacking midfield. United simply have an embarrassment of riches, but that means Martial could be left in the cold. Why risk his development, then, by staying?