Manchester United’s Anthony Martial came in for praise from club legend Eric Cantona, who compared him with Brazilian Ronaldo.
The Red Devils have only one shot at silverware this season, after failing to present much of a challenge in the Premier League and having crashed out of the Champions League and then the Europa League. However, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for Manchester United, with the emergence of young forward Anthony Martial one of the major positives of the season.
The 20 year old forward has made as many as 51 appearances for the Red Devils in all competitions this season, scoring 17 goals and registering 4 assists. His goal scoring prowess has led to praise coming in from all quarters, with the latest being his compatriot and Manchester United legend Eric Cantona.
Cantona compares Martial to Ronaldo, thinks Van Gaal is the right manager for him
Eric Cantona is one of the biggest Manchester Untied legends of the modern age, winning the Premier League four times during a five-year stay at Old Trafford. He had some huge words of encouragement for his young compatriot, and also a kind word for under-fire manager Louis van Gaal as well.
“He’s very mature for his age. I think he’s the same kind of player as Ronaldo. Of course Ronaldo is a Brazilian, but he’s as strong as him. Martial is skilful, he wants to score goals and he has good vision,” Cantona said, according to MUTV.
Two-time Ballon d’Or winning Ronaldo set the world alight with his fearsome performances for the likes of Brazil, Internazionale and Real Madrid. If Martial can reach the same level as the Brazilian, then he will more than justify the potential £58 million price tag that Manchester United will have to pay Monaco.
Cantona also compared his progress to that of Cristiano Ronaldo, who spent his developmental years at Manchester United under the watchful eye of Sir Alex Ferguson. He feels that the club is the best place for Martial to grow as a player, and even asserted that Louis van Gaal was indeed the right man for the job.
“He (Ronaldo) had the opportunity to win trophies but also Ferguson helped him to be the player he is today. And I think he (Martial) has been very clever to choose Manchester United.”
Martial dismisses comparisons, focused on Wembley
Manchester United have had some brilliant players play for them through the ages and there are many who are hoping that Martial will be the talisman that they’ve been looking for these past few years. However, Anthony Martial doesn’t want to be drawn into comparisons with club legends.
“You can’t possibly say at this early stage,” said the Frenchman, according to the Guardian.
“It all depends on how I play, how many goals I score, how I perform in the years to come. If that was to be the case and I was to become an icon then I’d be very happy.”
Martial has the opportunity to put the cherry on the cake after a memorable debut season. More than eight months after scoring a brilliant solo goal against Liverpool to mark his debut for the Red Devils, the Frenchman now has the chance to make history by helping United win their first FA Cup trophy since 2004.
“I wasn’t too aware of the history of the competition but I know every trophy you can win has huge importance and we’re going to try to do everything we can to bring the cup back to Manchester,” Martial said.
Manchester United face off against Crystal Palace on Saturday. They go into the match as favourites but Alan Pardew’s Eagles are no pushovers and United will need to put in a good performance if they want to make up for an otherwise lackluster season.
