When Manchester United stumped up £36 million, potentially rising to £58 million, for a 19 year old from AS Monaco, many were wondering why Manchester United had to pay so much and who they had paid this fee for; who was Anthony Martial? Expectations and pressures were placed upon Martial’s young shoulders, and a wonderful goal on his debut against Liverpool in a 3-1 victory for the Red Devils managed to silence some of the critics.
In his first five games in all competitions for Manchester United, Martial has scored four goals, with three in three matches in the Premier League. Comparisons to Premier League and Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry have been made, comparisons that did exist before Martial transferred to England.
Nationality
The first distinct similarity between the two players is that they are both French-born and have represented the senior men’s team, with Martial making his debut on the 4th of September 2015 in a friendly 1-0 victory over Serbia, courtesy of a Karim Benzema goal. Henry’s France debut came almost 18 years ago, on the 11th of October 1997 in a 2-1 victory over South Africa. Winning starts for both, then.
Position
With regards to where they play on the pitch, yet again, Martial and Henry share similarities. Both players emerged as left-wingers but transitioned into strikers, with Arsene Wenger famously seeing a potential for Henry to become a potent scorer and Louis van Gaal doing the same with Martial. Although, with Martial, it has always been considered that he was best as a striker but was stationed wide-left for the majority of his pre-Manchester United club career. Henry is similar here as well; he was a striker in his youth career but played as a winger almost exclusively before joining Arsenal.
Monaco
Henry and Martial played for AS Monaco before eventually coming to England, with Henry going from France to England via a stop in Italy with Juventus whereas Martial took a direct flight. Whilst Henry was a Monaco youth product and Martial a Lyon one, it would be fair to say that the formative years in their professional careers were both spent with the Monegasque club.
Pace and finishing
The above sub-title is something both players possessed in abundance. Henry was an extremely rapid player considering his height of 188 centimetres, and Martial, although shorter, is also quick of the mark and a strong accelerator. But what good is pace to get onto the ball if the striker cannot finish their chance? Luckily for Manchester United fans, Martial looks a composed finisher so far in his blossoming career and Arsenal fans will remember fondly just how deadly Henry was in-and-around the box, with rival fans maybe wanting to forget just how lethal a player Henry was.
Inside-left preference
This preference for Martial and Henry is due to them both beginning as right-footed wingers playing on the left. As they moved inside in regards to their starting position, in the search for space away from the defenders, Henry used to enjoy drifting to the left and Martial is the same currently. When in that inside-left channel of the pitch, a cultured finesse shot was Henry’s weapon of choice to finish into the opposite corner and Martial so far has scored the majority of his goals isolating the right-centre back and going between him and the right-back before calmly slotting the ball away with a shot that is tantamount to a pass in its nature.
But Henry and Martial are not all the same. Key differences exist in how they started their careers in England; Martial scored on his debut and has continued scoring on a regular basis – Henry failed to score in his first eight games, with certain critics labelling him a flop and doubts were raised over his ability to adapt to the Premier League. Not all doubts have been dispelled about Martial but the striker is so early into his Manchester United career, and has started well; if he achieves even half of what Henry achieved with Arsenal, then Martial would have more than justified and recouped his transfer fee.