Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reminded Anthony Martial he has been entrusted with extra responsibility now he is again wearing the iconic Manchester United No.9 shirt.
The France international was stripped of his favourite squad number upon the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the summer of 2016 but after Romelu Lukaku joined Inter in the summer, Martial is again wearing the No.9 with distinction.
Martial started the season in promising fashion, scoring twice in successive matches, before a groin injury caused him to miss United’s last eight matches in all competitions.
Solskjaer’s side has struggled for goals in the absence of the former Monaco forward, but the 23-year-old is in contention to feature against Liverpool in Sunday’s grudge match at Old Trafford.
‘We all prefer beautiful goals but, at the end of the day, a goal is still a goal,’ Martial told United’s official club magazine in response to Solskjaer’s insistance that his strikers need to score scruffy as well as spectacular goals.
‘So, if I could score 30 goals like I scored in the game against Chelsea, I would take that right now!
‘I guess I have tended to score quite nice goals and so, if I managed to score more of this kind of goal, in addition to the more spectacular ones, then I’d end up with a much higher goals total come the end of the season.
‘Now that I’ve taken the no.9 shirt back once again, all he [Ole] has said to me is that I have a lot of responsibility and that I have to score goals, so that’s what I am trying to do.’
Martial has previous against Liverpool at Old Trafford, marking his Premier League debut four years ago with a memorable solo effort and he still rates that as his best goal for the club.
He added: ‘My favourite goal still has to be the one against Liverpool,” he said. “It was my first game and I was still discovering Old Trafford for the first time.
‘It was a really magnificent goal and, more importantly, it meant that we went on to win the game.
‘So, yes, that’s the best.’
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