Diogo Dalot and Rio Ferdinand recently spoke about Golden Boy award winner, Anthony Martial, who convinced Michael Carrick that he would one day be crowned the best in the world.
Michael Carrick played alongside some incredible players such as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, and when Manchester United signed Anthony Martial from Monaco in 2015, he was sure that he would become the next big thing for the Red Devils.
Martial began his Man United career pretty well, scoring an iconic debut goal against Liverpool and a crucial late winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton, the year United went on to win the cup. He also racked up 17 goals and eight assists from the wing in all competitions in his first season at the club.
He arrived with a huge reputation and a £50 million fee, which put a lot of pressure on the 19-year-old starlet dubbed ‘the next Thierry Henry’. Eventually, after his first season, we began to see a slight decline in his performances.
He left the club permanently in 2024 after playing 317 matches and scoring 90 goals, not a bad return, however, for a player who was backed to reach the very top of the game, it is hard not to see him as a flop.
Dalot and Ferdinand on Martial
In a recent interview on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Diogo Dalot was asked to name his ultimate five-a-side team of players he has played with, in which he included Martial.
“I’m going to say it because I’m going to combine what, obviously, he could do in games, but in training. And I played a lot against him, so it was really, really tough to play.
“And he was one of those that, if he had obviously a bit more consistency, sometimes he would disconnect a little bit from everything. But if he wanted, he could be the best player in the world. Easily.
“In training, he could do things that you would ‘we have to stop training’, you know, those moments that make you want to blow the whistle and say ‘okay, let’s go inside’.”
Rio Ferdinand responded to his claims, saying, “You know, Carrick said to me when he first signed that Martial could win the Ballon d’Or.”
Did Man United fail Martial?
In recent years, United has built a reputation for buying young, upcoming talents who just do not seem to work out, leading many to label Old Trafford a ‘graveyard’ for players.
The list is huge, stemming from Memphis Depay and Henrik Mkhitaryan, to Daniel James and Jadon Sancho. All from different leagues with different levels of experience, yet they all had the same outcome: disappointment.
Sancho and Mkhitaryan are two of the biggest mysteries for United, as they seemed like players who were guaranteed to succeed. The season before joining United, Mkhitaryan contributed 47 goals in 52 games, and Sancho 34 in 38, leading the masses to assume the problem must have been United.
Read more: Michael Carrick shows ultimate class with pundit pressure response after Roy Keane embarrassment
The most recent talent at risk of the same demise is striker Benjamin Sesko. After arriving for a fee of over £70 million, he has not exactly been pulling up trees. With only seven goals in 23 games, many are worried for the Slovenian; however, with five in his last seven, there is still hope he can break the curse.
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