Arsenal: Any smidgen of Anthony Martial doubt must be jumped at

Anthony Martial has reportedly rejected a new contract offer from Manchester United because of concerns regarding his limited playing time. Arsenal should be jumping at this opportunity.

Prizing away other team’s top talent is not something that Arsenal are especially used to. Or rather they are very used to it, it’s only that they are so often on the wrong side of it. Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis Sanchez. All have departed in the past decade, landing with direct rivals in the Premier League.

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But as we have seen with many of those examples — and others like N’Golo Kante, Kyle Walker, and even all the way back to Eric Cantona — stealing from your direct rivals can be an ideal way to round out your team.

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And this summer, Arsenal have the perfect opportunity to do just that. While many may focus on the contract troubles of players like Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, there are other clubs with other players on quickly-expiring deals that are also facing panic stations. They are struggling to hold onto them, and it might be wise for the Gunners to take advantage, just as they have been taken advantage of in the past.

One such player is Manchester United’s, Anthony Martial. The blistering winger, who was signed almost three years, such was the youthfulness of his acquisition, has just one more year to run on his contract, though there is an option to extend that contract if he and the club so desire. However, per a report from France, Martial has chosen to reject that option, frustrated with the limited playing time that he is receiving at the club.

His aggravations are certainly justified. Although there is great competition in the United squad with the likes of Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard all vying with Martial for only one or two starting roles, he played 2632 minutes in the Premier League in his first season at Old Trafford. This year, he has only just topped half of that.

Moreover, of his 26 league appearances, 10 have come from the off the bench. He is not trusted by Mourinho to start week-in-week-out, which at 22 and now reaching a key point in his development, is something that Martial might be very keen to do. And so the door swings open a little.

This is an opportunity that Arsenal should be jumping at. In his first season, Martial scored 11 goals and assisted four, averaging a direct involvement in a goal every 175.4 minutes. The next year, he scored four goals and assisted six, averaging a direct involvement in a goal every 155.8 minutes. This season, he has scored nine goals and assisted five, averaging a direct involvement in a goal every 96.1 minutes. There is a trend developing.

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Not only is Martial an outstanding talent, but he is also improving. Still only 22 years of age, he only has more room to blossom. Arsenal would foolish not to jump at this opportunity.