Anthony Martial: 'English football needs Man Utd striker to succeed'

I would love to be analysing a dream debut for Anthony Martial when I come to discuss Manchester United versus Liverpool on Match of the Day on Saturday.

It is the biggest game in English football and a massive occasion for his first United appearance - if he features at Old Trafford.
But the very fact I am wondering whether Martial will start, or even play at all, says a lot about the £36m transfer and suggests that United have paid such a massive initial fee for his potential, rather than anything he has done in his career so far.

Man Utd's mystery teenager

Martial made his senior France debut last week as a substitute in their friendly win against Portgual

Martial is 19, and before the start of this season had only completed four first-team games for Monaco. He has played a total of 30 minutes of senior international football for France, all in the past week.
Like myself, not many United fans will have seen much of him in action but, starting this weekend, he is going to be under major scrutiny because of how much he has cost, his record up to this point and the fact a club of their size has signed him. The pressure will be immense.
So I hope that he proves to be the absolute gem of a player that United think they have bought, for his own sake and for the sake of English football too.

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Martial is a great talent - Saha

Otherwise, United spending so much on a teenager who has scored only 11 goals in 52 matches in Ligue 1 will just be used to show how the money in our game has gone completely crazy.
At the moment, that is what most people seem to be thinking. His fee could rise to £58m and every single former player I have spoken to has been amazed by how much he has cost considering how little football he has played.
On paper, what he has done is not that impressive either. If Martial had scored 25-30 goals I would be thinking 'that's only in Ligue 1' and he has not even got close to that.
His goalscoring record does not say to me that he is going to be the new Sergio Aguero, but I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
I am not on my own in not knowing what to expect from him, let alone where he will play, but being a bit of an unknown quantity will help him against Liverpool.

Anthony Martial's senior career since his Monaco debut in November 2013
Competition	League	French Cups	Europe	France
Games	52	10	12	2
Minutes played	2,641	364	759	30
Full games (90 mins)	4	1	2	0
Goals	11	3	1	0
Shooting accuracy	53%	N/A	71%	0%
Shot conversion	20%	N/A	14%	0%
Assists	5	N/A	2	0

The best scenario - he starts as well as I did

Martial took 71 minutes to score his first Monaco goal, which came in his second game and his first start

So far, Martial has said all the right things in interviews and, considering he has joined one of the biggest clubs in the world, he seems to be dealing with everything pretty well.
It is on the pitch where he will be judged, though, and it could be that this weekend he goes 'bang' - with a performance that shouts "here I am, and this is what I can do".
That could happen, especially in a team like United's. They will create chances and, if Martial has got the strength and pace I keep hearing about, then he could have a big impact very quickly.
I hope he does, because it would be great for the Premier League to have a new star.
The best scenario, especially for a forward player, is obviously that he hits the ground running at his new club by scoring some goals straightaway.
There was pressure on me when I joined Arsenal for what was then a club record fee of £2.5m in September 1991 but I scored in my first game, got a hat-trick in my second and never looked back.

Wright took 45 minutes to score his first goal for Arsenal, on his debut against Leicester

Any pressure disappeared and, instead, I was full of confidence.
The way I looked at it then was that I could go four games without scoring and my average would still be good but the way I was feeling, I knew more goals would come - and they did.

Henry comparisons are inevitable

Not every player gets off to a flying start like I did at Arsenal. Also for the Gunners, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp both had to wait a while to get off the mark.
I have heard Martial being compared to Henry a lot because of his playing style and the way he can come off the left or right wing as well as down the middle.
That is great if it is true and, if he is not an out-and-out striker, he will need to be able to make goals for others like Henry could.

Henry took 473 minutes to score his first goal for Arsenal, against Southampton in 1999

Yes, those comparisons add even more pressure but they are inevitable because both players left Monaco at a young age and came to England for big money - Henry had a brief spell at Juventus in between, but his £10.5m fee was the third-biggest in English football when he came to Highbury in 1999.
Henry, who was a couple of years older than Martial and a lot more experienced at first-team level, scored 26 goals in his first season for Arsenal, but did not find the net until his ninth game for the club.
There is an argument that Henry's early days are an example of why Martial will need time before showing us what he can do.
That is true, but I still saw Henry's ability in those first few games. I had left Arsenal by then but on his left foot or right foot, he had skill and athleticism and was such a dynamic player.
He was not scoring goals but I remember looking at him and thinking 'wow - when he kicks in, he is going to be awesome'.
In Memphis Depay, United already have one young player who makes me think the same whenever I watch him.

Depay, 21, joined United from PSV Eindhoven for £31m in June

You can see Memphis is not quite firing on all cylinders at the moment but there is still something really explosive building up in him, and you can tell he is going to do something special soon.
What I saw from Thierry and what we are seeing now from Memphis is what I want from Martial on Saturday. It would be even better if he can nick a goal or two as well.

Rooney record is big boost for United

One thing that Martial can rely on at his new club is that his team-mates will look after him and help him as much as they can, especially because of his age, his price tag and the fact he has moved to a different country.
Even a player of Bergkamp's experience needed that while he settled in. He went six games without scoring after joining Arsenal for a British record fee of £7.5m in 1995, but we were unbeaten during that time and I scored four goals, which took a lot of the pressure off him.

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I'm a proud man tonight - Rooney

You can be sure that Wayne Rooney will look to do the same for Martial and I think it is brilliant news for United that he has just broken Sir Bobby Charlton's record as England's top goalscorer.
Rooney has had a difficult start to the Premier League season but his international goals in the past week will have lifted a weight off his shoulders and, whether Martial plays or not, I think Liverpool could feel the backlash of that at the weekend.

Overseas football fans visiting Britain now at 800,000

The number of overseas fans visiting Britain to watch top-flight football rose to 800,000 in 2014 and brought in £684m, according to research.

Most fans came from the Republic of Ireland (121,000), with Norway (93,000), Sweden (58,000) and the United States (53,000) next.
Old Trafford and Arsenal's Emirates Stadium were the most popular venues, both receiving 109,000 visits each.
Premier League chief Richard Scudamore said the rise was very encouraging.

  

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Supporters' Chair: 'Concerns over tourist ticket distribution'

However, football supporters groups said the figures, released by tourism body Visit Britain, underlined concerns they have about the make-up of fans in stadiums, ticket prices and club identity.
The last time Visit Britain - which has a partnership with the Premier League to encourage visitors to come to Britain and see a live match - published figures was in 2010, when 50,000 fewer fans attended games.
The Norwegian branch of the Liverpool Supporters' Club estimates that for big games, up to 1,500 Norwegians descend on Anfield.
The Premier League is already a huge global brand with an estimated 1.2bn fans worldwide and overseas TV rights expected to exceed the £2bn which was paid for the last deal running from the 2016-17 season.
The research shows that fans want to experience that excitement in person, which in turn is boosting the British economy.

Republic of Ireland accounted for 121,000 of 800,000 fans visiting Britain to watch top-flight football

Boosting Britain's economy

Visit Britain says it is targeting key markets across the globe through its 'Football is Great' campaign, which includes a video from Manchester United assistant manager Ryan Giggs on the ease of travelling around the country.
And from a financial point of view, it appears to be paying off.
The 800,000 overseas fans who watched football in Britain last year spent £684m collectively, up £89m since 2010. On average they were likely to spend £855 per visit, considerably higher than those who chose not to watch football at £628.
Football also appears to be a good way of encouraging visitors to Britain in winter months while the football season continues, with 31% of visitors from January to March taking in matches, compared with 19% in July to September.
Almost three quarters (73%) of visitors who gave their primary journey purpose as watching sport said they had attended a football match.
Manchester taxi drivers will tell you how much busier they are on match days when Manchester United are at home, and it is clear that football is a big attraction to the area.
Ten percent of visitors to the North West of England, which is also the home of Manchester City and Liverpool, head to the region to watch football, compared to 5.6% in the north-east and just 1.3 in the south-east.
Tourism minister Tracey Crouch said: "It's fantastic to see the positive role football is playing in showcasing key destinations in many different regions of the UK."

Fans merchandise is often geared towards overseas tourism

What is the appeal?

Tore Hansen is the chief executive of the official Norway branch of the Liverpool Supporters' Club and has been travelling to Anfield for the past 30 years.
He says the love affair started in the 1960s when many Norwegians adopted English teams as a result of games being screened on TV. He also believes the numerous flight routes to Britain have made it easier for fans to travel.
"It's been building for many years," he told BBC Sport. "One of the reasons was because the standard of football in Norway wasn't that great. British football has always been popular in Norway and it's also a nice country to visit."
So popular in fact, that the clamour for tickets has increased at Anfield, a stadium which holds 45,500 fans and is dwarfed by the 60,000 capacity at Emirates Stadium and 75,700 at Old Trafford.
Hansen, 48, says that some Norwegian fans end up buying from season ticket holders, with some choosing to sell their seats every week. He also says there are many examples of fans paying for tickets on the internet, never to see them in person.
"The demand is massive and it's a shame it's gone that way, especially for local people in Liverpool," he added.
The Premier League says that stadiums were at 96% capacity last season.

Liverpool is expanding its stadium to 59,000 seats for the start of the 2016-17 season

Keeping a club's heritage

Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) vice-chairman Sean Bones says there needs to be equilibrium between welcoming overseas fans and maintaining the club's heritage.
Asked whether a local or overseas supporter was considered more important by clubs, he said: "Manchester United has been built by generations of local support and we deserve that recognition. It's a question of balance, the fact we are so attractive to tourists is because of our history."
Bones also has concerns about the demand for tickets increasing prices. A BBC study found that the average price of cheapest tickets in England has increased by 13% since 2011, with the Football Supporters' Federation calling for clubs to reduce their cost.
Bones told BBC Sport: "It's good for the country when additional funds come into the economy but we need clubs to reward the long-term loyalty of our supporters."
As for whether overseas fans contribute to subdued atmospheres at Old Trafford, Bones says: "That's probably more to do with all-seater stadiums."

Most visited stadiums in Britain by overseas fans
Old Trafford (Manchester United): 109,000
Emirates Stadium (Arsenal): 109,000
Anfield (Liverpool): 99,000
Stamford Bridge (Chelsea): 89,000
Wembley (England): 51,000
White Hart Lane (Tottenham): 40,000
Etihad Stadium (Manchester City): 33,000
Craven Cottage (Fulham): 30,000

Will numbers of overseas fans increase?

The top-10 largest markets for overseas visitors to British football are limited to European countries, the US and Australia.
But Visit Britain believes that the growth of the Premier League's appeal in Asia means the established order may not remain for long.
"The London 2012 Olympics put Britain on the map as the home of sport, and obviously football is a global draw," says Patricia Yates from Visit Britain.
"It's interesting to see the strong appeal it has in new-growth markets like China, Hong Kong and Indonesia where those new out-bound travellers tend to be younger and affluent. They have the same loyalty to their clubs as British fans and they want to come and see them play in the stadium."

£1,300 to watch your team play?
Read about one South African fan's journey to watch his beloved Manchester United play at Old Trafford.

Like Bones, Yates believes there needs to be a balance between local and overseas supporters but argues that foreign fans "add to the flavour of the match".
As for overseas football visitors reaching the 1m mark, do not expect Visit Britain to halt its use of the Premier League as key marketing tool.
"In 2014, we saw 35m people come to Britain where they spent £22bn, and we plan to grow that to 40m by 2020," Yates added. "So we have ambitious targets and we will continue to use football as a major draw to this country."
As Hansen says, the Anfield Stadium expansion has come at just the right time.