Juan Mata thinks that Manchester United teammate Anthony Martial still has “an incredible career ahead of him”.
The Frenchman has been criticised for not living up to the potential he showed to tempt United into signing him for an initial £36 million from Monaco in 2015.
But Mata believes he is still a “big talent”, and despite a middling goal record since arriving at the club believes Martial has a bright future.
“I hope it’s really big. He is an incredibly talented player,” Mata told Sky Sports.
“You can see that since the moment he arrived to the club in his first game against Liverpool.
“In every training session, the way he treats the ball, the way he takes on people, the way he can win a game by himself.”
Martial has scored 36 goals in 116 league games for United, playing both through the middle and from the left.
He began this season well, apparently entrenched as the starting striker in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side after the summer departure of Romelu Lukaku.
A hamstring injury has kept him out since United’s defeat to Crystal Palace in August, but Mata has backed him to return strongly.
“I love this kind of player with such big talent and I love to play with them,” the Spaniard said.
“He is a very, very good player. He is still young and hopefully he has an incredible career ahead of him.”
