Michael Owen questions Anthony Martial’s role at Manchester United

Michael Owen believes Manchester United still need to sign a centre-forward and has thrown into doubt Anthony Martial’s role at the club.

Martial scored an excellent hat-trick in United’s 3-0 victory over Sheffield United in midweek and won plaudits for his ruthless finishing in front of goals. He connected well with Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes in a fluid United attack.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer led the praise of Martial, who has now reached 19 goals for the campaign – his best season’s tally since he arrived at Old Trafford in 2015.

But former United and Liverpool striker Owen has questioned Martial.

“Now is the right time to be playing as a centre-forward for Manchester United with the likes of Pogba, Fernandes and all these players around you,” Owen told the Daily Mail.

“Is he one that’s going to be the No.9 for years to come? At the minute, he looks very inconsistent. Is he going to constantly score a lot of goals?

“There is still a question mark – and there is still a question mark over what his best position is.

“I probably think it’s off the left, but then again that’s probably Marcus Rashford’s best position.

“They are shuffling the pack a little bit at the moment but if you ask most people where Manchester United need to strengthen, they will say they need a main No.9.”

The former United forward does believe that Solskjaer’s men are beginning to turn a corner and was impressed with their attacking play against Sheffield United.

“We’re judging a team that have been below par for a long time” added Owen.

“Now, all of a sudden, they’ve got a lot of good players.

‘They had three or four situations… Rashford missed a chance in the first half and if he had put it in, it would have been one of the goals of the season. The intricate play on the edge of the box was absolutely brilliant.”