Anthony Martial handed Man Utd No9 shirt in huge show of faith by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after Romelu Lukaku transfer exit – The Sun
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has given Anthony Martial the number nine shirt worn by Romelu Lukaku.
And the Old Trafford chief insists the mercurial Frenchman can fill the goals gap left by his former team-mate's transfer to Inter Milan.
French striker Anthony Martial has won a big vote of confidence at Old Trafford by being given the main hitman shirtAhead of the big clash with Chelsea it was a clear vote of confidence for Martial, 23.
Solskjaer played him down the middle of the park a lot in pre-season and even suggested he and Marcus Rashford could form a strike partnership.
Rashford has admitted that he never aimed to be just a main striker and while happy to play there was equally comfortable in any position across a three, behind a lone front man.
Martial spent his time on the left when he played in the same team as Lukaku.
While many United fans were happy to see the back of Lukaku, who has left for Inter Milan, he scored more than any other player in the last two seasons at the club with 42 goals.
'VERY CONFIDENT'
In the same period Rashford hit 26 and Martial 23.
But Solskjaer remains confident they will up their tallies and even 17-year old academy graduate Mason Greenwood will prove a goalscoring hit.
He also hinted that Lukaku just wasn’t going to fit his style of play.
Solskjaer said: “Of course Rom has a good record and stats he's one of the top number nines around when you want to play with that kind of striker, target man.
“But I'm very confident that we'll get goals from Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Dan James will create, Jesse Lingard will get more.
“I believe Mason is going to be playing and involved a lot and when he is he's going to score goals.”
Solskjaer has even held out some hope for big money flop Alexis Sanchez.
He said: “I do expect him to stay, there's a striker there we think is going to be able to score some goals.”
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