According to the Manchester Evening News, West Ham United in the Premier League are interested in bringing in three Manchester United players this summer: Harry Maguire, McTominé and Martial. If Moyes does take the "3M" from Old Trafford, fans will chant his name and praise him as the "chosen son", especially Martial, who is arguably the Reds' toughest player to deal with, he is a genius but has many injuries, a high weekly salary and a withdrawn temperament.
Manchester United are in a position of joy and celebration than they have seen in the last 10 years, with better times coming. But Ten Hag is still stretched thin in some positions, especially in the centre, thanks largely to Martial.
The 27-year-old Martial has played well in pre-season, leading Ten Hag to think he can use his transfer funds at centre-back, midfield and right winger instead of bringing in new strikers. However, after the start of the season, Manchester United's French demon king began to get injured, and injury after injury after injury made Ten Hag very passive up front.
Ten Hag has done a fantastic job in his short months at the helm, but fans should not forget that he has changed the spirit of the team on and off the pitch, and that he has done so when the forward line is limited.
Let's be clear about one thing first, Ten Hag cannot complain about transfers, he spent £250 million in his first summer window in charge, the highest in franchise history, and most teams can only dream of such investment. However, even so, United's squad remains flawed.
In the centre-forward position, to this day, Manchester United still do not have a true number 9. Marcus Rashford, who scored 25 goals, is not a centre-forward, neither is Anthony Martial, neither is Westhorst, and his scoring ability is very limited and falls short of the standards expected of a Red Devils centre-forward.
Anthony Martial may be the closest to becoming United's No.9 workhorse, but his body can't handle that pressure. Had it not been for Marcus Rashford's sudden outburst and scored 17 goals in 19 games since Cristiano Ronaldo's stay, Ten Hag would have avoided the team's difficulty in scoring.
Manchester United must sign a good centre-forward this summer, which is essential, and if they are to truly compete for the Premier League or even the Champions League, one of Napoli's strikers Osmeyne or Tottenham Hotspur captain Harry Kane will need to replace Martial as the team's No.9.
No matter how much fans expect Martial's talent, his fitness is already an indisputable fact. The French striker has missed out on 26 of United's 40 games this season, and the last time he played a full 90 minutes in the Premier League for the Red Devils was more than two years ago!
To find Anthony Martial playing a full Premier League game for Manchester United, you need to go back to 27 January 2021, when Manchester United suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Sheffield United, the last time the polo king played in the league from the start to the end. After that, whether at Manchester United or Sevilla, the "director" never insisted on the whole game.
If you extend the scope to all competitions, Martial played a full 90 minutes last season, in the third round of the League Cup match between Manchester United and West Ham United on 22 September 2021, which ended in Manchester United losing 1-0 and exiting the first game.
During his loan stay at Sevilla, Martial did not play a full game, of course, one of the Europa League games he was substituted in extra time, playing 102 minutes, more than 90 minutes, interestingly, against West Ham! After Martial was substituted, the team quickly scored a goal and successfully qualified.
Anthony Martial is prone to injury, second only to injury king Phil Jones in the team, which has been confirmed by long-term statistics. In the two years since his last Premier League start, Manchester United has been injured more than 10 times, with an average of at least 5 injuries in a season, and the shortest rest is only 9 days, but it happens to be a dense schedule, so he missed 3 games; The longest lasted 126 days and missed 14 matches.
Manchester United are a team aiming to return to the top of England and Europe, so naturally they need to play a lot of games, and it is hard to believe that a player who can't last even 90 minutes can become the team's main centre-forward. For comparison, Kane's starting games this season will basically not be replaced, with only 4 substitute departures; Although Osmayne was replaced more often, he mainly scored goals and enjoyed applause in the final moments of the game, after all, he was also seriously injured.
It is therefore easy to understand United's intention to sell Anthony Martial this summer in order to raise funds for the introduction of a new striker. Indeed, even if he did, Martial couldn't blame Ten Hag for being sold last year, but his performance in the warm-up game confused the new 53-year-old manager.
If Manchester United sell Martial, the transfer fee cannot be too high, and the German transfer market network only puts a price tag of 15 million euros (£13 million) for him. But the polo king's £250,000 a week could save United a significant amount of money, specifically £13 million a year. That is, if Martial is successfully sold, Manchester United will have a funding gap of £26 million, which can almost buy out Westhorst, who is on loan from Burnley. Ideally, United will bring in two new centre-forwards this summer.
The 30-year-old Dutch high school striker Westhorst has scored nowhere near as many goals as Anthony Martial, but his attendance and diligence are not on par with the fragile French demon king, and he is fully qualified as a backup centre-forward. Or Ajax's rising star Mohammed Kudus, an old subordinate of Ten Hag who is capable of attacking from any offensive position. Ten Hag has always believed in the 22-year-old's ability to gain a foothold in the Premier League, with Kudus scoring nine goals and assisting one in 22 Eredivisie games this season.