Expert suggests Man United about to sign striker after source’s reveal
Anthony Martial has proved to be unreliable and injury prone at Manchester United and the failure to address the lightweight striker department at Old Trafford would be a mistake.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Martial has already missed 15 Man United games this season through a flurry of different injuries, but the Frenchman returned to full fitness over the winter break and was available against Nottingham Forest where he scored in a 3-0 victory.
Just hours before the win, news broke that long-term transfer target Cody Gakpo had agreed terms to join arch-rivals Liverpool – a move that was later confirmed by Liverpool.
Football Insider revealed this week (28 December) that United are working on landing a forward and are willing to pay £10million-plus in loan fee and wages to secure a temporary signing.
Dinnery is concerned about the reliability of Martial given his poor injury record since arriving at Old Trafford.
“Given Martial’s history there is a slight worry,” the injury expert told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“But we still have the January window so that’s not to say that there are maybe other opportunities afforded along the way – it just depends on how Ten Hag sees it.
“You can look at the legs of [Marcus] Rashford who can play that more central role more, but his preference does seem to be out wide on the left.
“Everything in football is a calculated risk and starting Martial is definitely a gamble.
“Unfortunately, we’re just not able to give any guarantees with Martial – it’s now down to whether Ten Hag believes that he has the flexibility within his squad and the adaptability to cope with any setbacks for Martial.
“Let’s not forget we also have Jadon Sancho who could potentially return, but if not during the January window I’m sure it’s something that they will look to address in the summer because that department is looking a little bit lightweight now.
“History will tell us that Anthony Martial, unfortunately, isn’t someone that we can rely on wholeheartedly to stay fit.“
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