Anthony Martial has been announced as one of the cover players for FIFA 17. FIFA, football's most iconic video game, saw Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi grace the cover of the game since FIFA 13, however, FIFA decided not to renew the Argentine's contract after it expired in 2016 with FIFA 16 being the last game Messi graced.
Martial shined brightest for United in 2015-16
The young French striker made the big-money move from AS Monaco to Manchester United last summer. The 20-year-old made a 36 million pound move from the principality to England on deadline day. That fee could rise to 58 million pounds due to bonuses. The Frenchman kicked off his United career with a bang, scoring his first ever goal against United's arch rivals Liverpool. The 20-year-old finished the season with 16 goals in all competitions, leading the way for United.
In the Barclays Premier League, he scored 11 goals and assisted on four goals, with his two best performances coming against Southampton and West Ham United, scoring a brace against each side. He scored twice in the FA Cup and also assisted on four goals. He was comprehensive in the semifinal tie against Everton, assisting the opening goal and scoring the winner in stoppage time.
Four players grace the cover of FIFA
Martial is not going to be the only player to grace the cover of FIFA 17. Real Madrid's James Rodriguez, Chelsea's Eden Hazard, and Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus are all set to join the Frenchman on the cover as well.
Martial joins a long list of United players to have graced the cover of FIFA. David Beckham was the first-ever United player to be on the cover of FIFA on FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup. Jaap Stam became the second player on the cover in FIFA 2000. After Stam, United players featured the following three years with Paul Scholes, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Ryan Giggs all on the covers respectively.
2006 began a long run of having a constant presence on the FIFA cover with Wayne Rooney gracing it from 2006-2012. Javier Hernandez was the last Red Devils player to be on the cover of FIFA, joining Messi on the cover of FIFA in North America in FIFA 14.