Mourinho hails Martial form

LONDON: Jose Mourinho has hailed a “great improvement” from forward Anthony Martial as competition in attacking areas looks set to hot up with the expected arrival of Arsenal´s Alexis Sanchez.

Martial, 22, has scored in each of United´s past three Premier League games, netting the winner against Burnley on Saturday and now has 11 goals for the season, three more than he managed last season. “We know the talent,” Mourinho told Sky Sports. “It´s just about consistency, and not just consistency in the goals he scores but also consistency in the way he plays overall. “But (there are) no doubts that from last season to this season (there has been) a great improvement from Anthony and we need that.” Mourinho, whose side are second in the Premier League, 12 points behind Manchester City, is keen on attacking reinforcements and is expected to have another option soon as Sanchez closes in a move to Old Trafford. Frenchman Martial´s form means he could keep his current berth on the left of the attack with Sanchez stationed on the opposite flank either side of central striker Romelu Lukaku.

Mourinho highlighted Lukaku´s contribution for the winner against Burnley. “Sometimes people look at strikers and analyse just the number of goals, and it´s not fair because (Lukaku) is a team player and the quality, the vision, the pass to make Martial face the one-against-one was fantastic,” he told MUTV, the club´s in-house TV station.