West Ham United are trying to raid Manchester United this summer.
The Guardian revealed that the Irons made a combined bid of £60m for Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay.
The latest Old Trafford asset to attract the attention of manager David Moyes is seemingly Anthony Martial.
What’s the latest on Anthony Martial to West Ham?
According to CaughtOffside, the Hammers are in the market for a new forward and Martial is on the shortlist.
Read the latest West Ham transfer news HERE…
Since this article’s publication, Gianluca Scamacca’s long-awaited departure back to Italy has been confirmed as he joined Atalanta BC.
Therefore, alongside Martial, the Hammers are also eyeing possible moves for Armando Broja, Elye Wahi, and Youssef En-Nesyri.
Is Anthony Martial the answer for West Ham?
The east Londoners are back to square one after this move.
Last summer, when Scamacca moved to the English capital, his domineering 6 foot 5 profile was expected to be ruthlessly exploited by Moyes.
However, the transfer materialised into a disaster. In a season ravaged by injury and inconsistency, the former Sassuolo marksman managed just three Premier League goals and didn’t feature at all for the club after March 2023 due to knee surgery.
Moyes underlined Scamacca’s troubles, criticising his “physical data” and “output" – but the divorce between the Scotsman and the player eventually boiled down to a lack of tactical harmony.
This perspective was reinforced by fellow West ham forward Michail Antonio, who said:
“The problem is, he can’t play the way the gaffer plays. He needs a different type of manager to play his type of football, [one who can] have other players play off him and stuff like that.
“You can see it, when the ball comes into him it sticks and he’s tidy. But the way David Moyes plays, if you’re upfront you’re dealing with scraps and you’ve got to be more of a fighter, that’s not him.”
Antonio’s comments indicate that Moyes is after a dominant, selfless focal point, prioritising effectiveness over aesthetics. Therefore, it seems strange that the club is interested in Martial, who definitely doesn’t fit this mould.
The 27-year-old dud fits into that frustrating category of player that can appear either centrally or out wide, but flatters to deceive in either position. In his eight years in the north-west, Martial has failed to consistently nail down a starting spot and recurring fitness issues have stagnated his progress.
Last season, the attacker only made 11 top-flight starts and across his United career, he has missed 79 games through injury. At his best for the Red Devils in the 2019/20 campaign, Martial operated in a two-man strike force with Marcus Rashford, registering 24 Premier League contributions.
However, if he joined West Ham, you’d expect Martial to be given Antonio’s unflattering task of endlessly running and operating as an isolated figure up top, which he is unlikely to excel at.
Outspoken talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has previously expressed concerns over Martial, saying:
“I've looked at him over the last two or three years, objectively, and thought if you play him as a mainstay, you're never going to achieve very much.
"He just simply doesn't have what's required from an elite Manchester United side to put the fear of God into the opposition and deliver on a week-in, week-out, basis. I think he's lightweight. I think he does it when he feels like it.”
It is also unlikely that the Frenchman will be on the left wing as Jarrod Bowen is one of Moyes’ most consistent and popular options, whose reputation will be almost untouchable after netting the last-minute winner in the Europa Conference League final back in June.
Furthermore, Martial’s monstrous £250k-per-week deal makes a possible transfer even more questionable, and if the 30-cap international ended up at the London Stadium, he would likely follow in Scamacca’s underwhelming path.