2015 Anthony Martial: United's £36m Man?

[Velocity]

Anthony Martial: United's £36m Man?

 

 

Introduction:

After getting rid of the likes of Falcao and Van Persie and even moving Rooney into a deeper role, Van Gaal looks set to pay big for this French striker. At 19 years old, he looks set to become the most expensive ever teenager to switch clubs with a fee of £36m set to be the cost. Whether Van Gaal is panic buying, or whether he sees great potential in this young lad, I will look into it myself and determine an outcome.

 

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Martial in FMH 15:

In FMH15, Anthony Martial is only 18 and looks a great young talent. However, he is not the best and definitely not worth £36m. I personally think with these stats and his age, he is worth £15m, maybe £20m at most. From this screenshot, we can see that his key attributes are shooting, movement and pace. So why does Van Gaal seem so keen to sign him? Martial is an out and out poacher, he is all too similar to Chicharito for me. He should fit in well though; feeding on Herrera, Mata and Schweinsteiger's through balls and pouncing on any loose balls in the box. But how does he compare to other United strikers in FMH15?

Wayne Rooney is what I would consider the 'perfect striker' for FMH. He has brilliant attributes all over his profile, but does this mean he would get a place ahead of Martial, play deeper or will there be two up front? With Van Gaal paying so much money, he surely can't be planning for Martial to be a bench warmer, he will surely be playing week in week out! 

Javier Hernandez has signed for Bayer Leverkusen this summer, but how similar is he to Martial in FMH15? Well, he is a poacher and is key attributes are, again, shooting, pace and movement... Hmm... He is also valued more highly and has some other attributes that are higher than Martial's. He may be older, but he has more EPL experience and is a proven goal scorer, whereas Martial is young and inexperienced. Hernandez also has over 65 caps for Mexico, playing at multiple World Cups as well!

 

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What Do The Statistics Say?

For this part I will be using a very trustworthy and accurate website, TransferMarkt. It has statistics and profiles for almost every player in the world.

According to the site, Martial's highest valuation was £5.6m, from June, 2015. However, seeing as though it is last minute, I would say that there should be £5m added to this.

Last season, Martial played 48 games in all competitions and scored 12 goals and got 4 assists. So far this season, Martial has played 7 games in all competitions and scored 1 goal and grabbed 2 assists. All in all, I wouldn't consider him a 'goal machine', especially seeing as though Ligue 1 isn't known for its amazing defences. With the EPL being a stronger league and more physical, I see Martial struggling to settle down.

 

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Who Could £36m Have Bought?

Martial looks to be signing for a fee in the region of £36m. But whom could this much money have bought? I will be looking at confirmed transfers and rumours with estimated valuations.

Firstly, Christian Benteke signed for Liverpool for £32m and I thought he was expensive... But he offers EPL experience, physicality and goals. He is a proven goal scorer and is a big guy. He holds up the ball well, wins plenty of aerial duels and is also good with his feet.

Secondly, we look at Pedro. He may not be a striker, but he scores goals and plays in an attacking position. Chelsea signed him for around £21m, meaning there would be £15m left to spend on perhaps another player. Pedro offers goals, technique,  Champions League and big game experience and pace. He scored on his debut and I think he was a brilliant signing.

Jackson Martinez moved to Atletico from Porto for £24.5m and has also already made a good start to life in Madrid. He may be a little older, but scores goals and is strong and powerful like Benteke. He would have also been a cheaper option to Benteke.

Carlos Bacca moved to AC Milan for £21m. He was awesome last season for Sevilla and is a natural finisher. Snapping up any loose balls in the box, as well as being a set piece specialist. Again, he is powerful and would be able to run onto their many playmaker's through balls.

 

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Personal Opinion:

Personally, I think Martial is a hot prospect who has great potential, as can be seen in FMH15. However, he is in my opinion not worth £36m, nor £10m, but around £15-£20m. Tottenham were interested around a month ago and were looking to sign him for just over £20m but backed out. With deadline day today, I believe Van Gaal is panic buying and with the strikers bought this transfer window for other clubs, Martial for £36m looks an absolute rip off and dangerous gamble. Good luck Van Gaal...

[Dec]

Brilliant post. Really in depth, I hope you do more of this.

[LordArcoDW]

No offense to any EPL fans but this or almost every year EPL clubs make the crapiest signings! I wouldn't even pay £10 million for this guy who had a mediocre performance in a weak league with a good team.

[JustM1kePlays]

Amazing article. I was going to do something similar but yours was more in depth then mine. Great job. Let's see how he performs. Bet Spurs fans are a bit peed off ay @UKFootballScore 

[Ashez]

Outstanding work! Please, please do more!! 

I agree with most things you said, United have come across as a joke this summer IMO. 

[LordArcoDW]

Amazing article. I was going to do something similar but yours was more in depth then mine. Great job. Let's see how he performs. Bet Spurs fans are a bit peed off ay @UKFootballScore 

After getting a better player with a better performance in a top league....I don't think so after all Heung-Min Son>>>>> Anthony Martial

[JustM1kePlays]

I think it was a panic buy especially for that kind of money. As Velocity said Spurs offered £20 Million which is a more realistic price. I would say £15 million based on potential. I think Spurs got the beer impact this season play not sure about in the bigger picture which is better. 

[Velocity]

Thank you so much for the positive feedback! This makes me want to do them all the more. I will try my best guys to get more topics done.

[UKFootballScore]

Nice work mate would love to see more and yeah I am gutted we couldnt pull it off but still glad we arent wasting money willy nilly and learning from when bale left

[phila]

Another way to look at his stats is that he is already at the level of Hernandez and should only get better (unless his hidden attributes really suck).

If he turns out to be the next Ronaldo then I suspect 36 million will look very cheap. Apparently a lot of scouts really rate him and expect him to breakthrough this season.

The French U21 coach has this to say "Am I surprised? Yes and no. I have been thinking for a long time - with the games he has played - that he will reach another level. I don't know if it's too soon but it is the right moment

LVG is smart so will be interesting to see if he has pulled off a masterstroke. Personally i hope not

[halamadrid]

Bro, I say this as a football fan and not a Man Utd fan.

UTD were not a joke!

better than Chelsea, in terms of league position 

better than Arsenal, in signings.

they freakin bought Depay, Darmian and for peace's sake, Schweinsteiger.

Agreed Martial is not worth anything near 36M, but he is a good buy

dont say, Utd are a joke, because if you say they are, dont not mind me saying this but, you have no idea what your are saying

you kidding right?

Sure,some decent signings but hey,buying a 19 year old for 36 million is a panic buy,if they're not a joke what are they?For pete's sake!

[Ashez]

Bro, I say this as a football fan and not a Man Utd fan.

UTD were not a joke!

better than Chelsea, in terms of league position 

better than Arsenal, in signings.

they freakin bought Depay, Darmian and for peace's sake, Schweinsteiger.

Agreed Martial is not worth anything near 36M, but he is a good buy

dont say, Utd are a joke, because if you say they are, dont not mind me saying this but, you have no idea what your are saying

They've spent a fortune and still have no class striker, an ageing midfield and one decent CB with a keeper who was used as a pawn and is desperate to leave. 

If anything happens to Rooney they are screwed, especially if Martial struggles or is also injured. Depay is another signing for the future as so far he's only cut it agaisnt poor opposition. 

They sent one of their best youngsters out on loan and he's unlikely to return while also embarrassing themselves and Madrid with the whole DDG situation. 

United have now shown you can get 36-56m for an unproven kid, that's simply panic buying and dangerous for football in general, not to mention how it will hinder them in future windows as clubs will hold them for big money. 

That's not even thinking about the amount of time they wasted on players like Ramos, Neymar and Pedro who wouldn't go there! 

[Ashez]

Which means absolutely nothing at this stage of the season, if this was the end of the season standings the point you're trying to get across could be somewhat valid but until then it's absolute rubbish. 

[JAY LEAF]

Buying Martial was superb. He helped Utd by helping to reach a win. Great stuff.

[halamadrid]

Buying Martial was superb. He helped Utd by helping to reach a win. Great stuff.

i wouldn't say superb,but decent

[Ashez]

He's a kid who has scored three goals, one shouldn't have counted and the two others were from shocking defensive errors. He did superb to be in the right place to score and they still needed finishing however he's done little outside of that and in the coming months he'll play against better opposition and be caught offside. 

Trying to say 3 goals is worth 56m is daft. Martial and his deal needs accessing over a number of seasons, not games. 

[Crowe]

How much did rooney cost united when he was a kid? Wasn't Ronaldo also a kid ( thou alot cheaper than Rooney ) think they paid to much yes, but think they know what there doing. He looks sharp at the moment and his movement is good. People say he wasn't that great at his last club! Strikers are only as good as the players that feed them!