José Mourinho believes Anthony Martial may be emerging from the difficult time in his personal life that has affected the Manchester United forward's start to the season.
Martial has lost his place in the starting XI under Mourinho after he was one of United’s finest performers last year in his first season at the club.
In April it emerged that Martial had split up with his wife and the mother of his daughter. He then scored four more times for United and played all of the FA Cup final win against Crystal Palace. But Mourinho has been concerned that Martial was still affected by his off-field distractions when the fresh campaign began and a temperament that is still maturing and needs careful managing.
The Portuguese believes Martial is a rare talent but he is intent that the player continually works hard in order to develop it and reach his maximum potential.
Martial, 20, started the opening three league games but was then dropped by the coach for last month’s 2-1 derby defeat against Manchester City at Old Trafford.
On Sunday Martial scored the opener in United’s 1-1 draw with Stoke City after coming on as a replacement after 67 minutes. This was his first strike of the term in his ninth appearance and afterwards Mourinho said Martial “needed” the goal.
It was his 17th for the club in 57 games and there is now optimism that his form will again consistently reach the heights of last year. Once Martial scores a 25th competitive goal for the club United are expected to pay Monaco a further €10m (£8.8m) under the agreement of his transfer last summer. The Frenchman cost an initial £36m in a fee that could rise as high as £58m. A further €10m sum is due his former club if Martial plays 25 times for France; he has featured 14 times to date.
Ander Herrera, who is establishing himself as a first choice for Mourinho, has been chosen for the Spain squad for a first time at 27 years old. The midfielder is in Julen Lopetegui’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Albania, following Javi Martínez’s enforced withdrawal.
He has played for the Spanish under-20, under-21 and under-23 sides and tweeted: “Long time dreaming with it, I am very proud to be able to represent my country, thanks to everyone for the kind messages.”
(Guardian service)
