Ole impressed by Martial in pre-season

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Anthony Martial could be set for his best Manchester United season yet, after witnessing the Frenchman's impressive efforts during pre-season.

Martial was on the scoresheet as the Reds thumped Leeds United 4-0 in the second match of Tour 2019, slotting home from the penalty spot after good work from Tahith Chong had induced a foul inside the area.

But the 23-year-old – who signed a new contract in January that will keep him at the club until at least 2024 – has also been drawing approval on the training pitch, where Solskjaer and the coaching staff have been enthused by his endeavour.

“Anthony can be a world-class forward,” explained the manager, while speaking to the media ahead of our next game, against Inter Milan at the Singapore National Stadium on Saturday (20 July, kick-off 12:30 BST).

“The way he has come back to pre-season now, how he is in training, his attitude is absolutely spot-on. There are a couple of instances that you can see with Anthony, in the way he works for the team.”

Martial scored 12 times in 38 appearances last term – his second-best tally for the club since joining from Monaco in the summer of 2015 – but Ole believes that, such is our no. 11's ability, there is plenty more to come.

“He has got the quality and talent,” Solskjaer continued. “He's going to score goals and his work-rate is improving. I expect him and Marcus [Rashford] to be even better than last season.

“Of course, Anthony's had a top season when he came in his first season. He was top scorer and he's had a couple of seasons since then when he's not really hit that amount of goals and quality. I'm sure we will see a better Anthony this year.”

Martial is not the only player who has struck the right note with the manager during the tour with his attitude and application.

“I'm looking to get all the players back to the form when I first came in,” he added. “It's not just about, say, Paul Pogba getting back to that form. It's about every one of us.

”Nemanja [Matic], Marcus [Rashford], Anthony, all of us. And us, as a team together, and the answer to whether the focus is right - I think everyone has been spot-on in pre-season, in training and the games they have played.

“When they're out on the pitch, I can't fault anyone. When we've got meetings, they're more proactive in those meetings and I've been very encouraged.”