It's perhaps fitting that Anthony Martial's most prolific run of form for Manchester United came in the behind-closed-doors Covid season. If no fans were in the ground, did it really happen?
The United striker hit six in seven as football resumed following a three-month pandemic-enforced break in 2020. It included a hat-trick against Sheffield United during a period where he looked the electrifying prospect he's long been touted as.
The run also included a goal at this weekend's opponents Bournemouth but since that summer's day nearly three years ago only 10 more Premier League goals have followed. Martial has been hit by injury absence after injury absence, breaking down more than a Morris Minor.
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United could look to cash-in on the 27-year-old in the summer as he enters the final 12 months of his Old Trafford contract still short of providing the answers to questions that have blighted his career in M16.
His strike at Wolves last time out maintained an impressive goals-per-minutes ratio but the minutes have been far too infrequent. With Marcus Rashford having only just returned to training, the France international will be seeking to add to his season tally on the south coast this weekend.
Four years on from his last outing at the Vitality Stadium, where United fell to a drab 1-0 defeat under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the then-United chief had raised the prospect of Martial finally fulfilling his promise.
“I don’t think he’s had a long, long run of games as a No.9 since he played many years ago as a young boy,” the Norwegian said in the build-up to United's last trip to Bournemouth. "You have to be obsessed with scoring goals as a No.9 and he’s looking more and more like a player who wants to score goals."
But he hasn't scored more goals. He's on five in the top flight this term having managed only one for United last season. Injuries haven't helped him and he's now approaching the tipping point.
"He’s a great player – he definitely has the qualities to play in top football – and when he is fit our team plays better," said Erik ten Hag last month.
And therein lies the rub. 'When fit'. Two words that could summarise Martial's United career. Solskjaer predicted a breakthrough in 2019, hopes were raised in 2020 but in Ten Hag's class of 2023 he's set to fall short once again.
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