Blind Highlights Martial's True Potential

Daley Blind has hailed Anthony Martial’s desire to improve on and off the pitch, explaining why he feels the Manchester United striker will bring the club rich rewards in the future.

Signed from Monaco on transfer deadline day, Martial arrived at Old Trafford as something of an unknown quantity to the English football public but quickly announced himself with a sensational debut goal as a substitute against Liverpool. Blind also scored a superb opener that day from a meticulously planned set-piece, but the Dutchman happily admits his effort was overshadowed.

“I was very happy for him because he killed the game,” Daley recalls, when talking to us about Martial’s first five months as a United player. “If you come with a transfer like that and perform like he did in his first game then it is really good for him.”

Martial currently has eight goals from 24 appearances and Blind is impressed by the youngster’s desire to improve. “He is a big talent, he is still young and we cannot forget that. But you can see on the training pitch and even in the matches already how much quality he has. If he is working that hard like he is now, improving and improving each week, then he can become a really great striker.

“He is very quick of course, he is strong and I think he is really calm in front of the goal. He has everything needed to become a great striker. Now he is evolving and performing in the training sessions, working hard on and off the pitch with his languages and personality, he is coming along really well. He is a bit quiet, he is still young, but he is always in for a joke and he’s a good lad.”

MARTIAL IS PREMIER LEAGUE'S FASTEST

Earlier this month, our France international equalled Leicester City's Jamie Vardy as the fastest footballer in this season's Barclays Premier League, according to records kept by EA Sports' Player Performance Index, after clocking 22 miles per hour over five seconds in the 3-3 draw at Newcastle.