Can Anthony Martial Replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

Manchester United stand on the brink of their first cup final of the Jose Mourinho era and, as they do so, they will be thankful for one goal in particular. Marouane Fellaini’s strike in the EFL Cup semifinal first leg, just three minutes from the final whistle, sealed a 2-0 home victory for United against a Hull City team who had just welcomed Marco Silva as their new manager.

Silva has quickly brought his personality to bear on the team, who have gone on to produce impressive performances in a 3-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth and a 2-0 loss away at league leaders Chelsea. Silva who, like Mourinho, hails from Portugal, is similarly renowned for his meticulous approach, and will be sure to test the strength of United’s two-goal margin.

In doing so, he will be likely to rely heavily on the marauding Harry Maguire, one of the most enterprising young centre-backs in the Premier League, and Abel Fernandez, the Uruguay international whose goals were crucial to Hull’s promotion last season. If these two take the initiative from the beginning of the second leg, then it could be an evening of some discomfort for United.

However, the evening’s most intriguing narrative lies elsewhere. Anthony Martial, despite arriving only at the start of last season, has already been loudly linked with a loan move to Jorge Sampaoli’s impressive Sevilla side.

Martial, one of United’s better performers in the 1-1 Premier League draw against Liverpool, was simply dropped for United’s 1-1 draw at Stoke City, a surprising move given the verve with which he had attacked Klopp’s team. What’s more, given United’s struggles in front of goal, some might argue that his team were much in need of his clinical finishing.

Yet the rumours also persist of United’s summer move for France and Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, whose signing would provide exceptional competition among United’s forward ranks. Martial is seemingly under pressure to make his claim, a scenario which would have seemed extraordinary just a few months ago. Then, Martial was starring as his club went on to claim the FA Cup against Crystal Palace, its first trophy since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson. Now, though, the club is looking for reliable strikers as a long-term replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Mourinho does not appear to be wholly convinced by Martial.

If not, Martial can argue that this is not entirely fair. He has played the bulk of his games on the wing, at times too far wide to make the type of impact of which he is capable — a predicament that also befell Memphis Depay, the subject of a recent £15 million transfer to Lyon. He is perhaps not yet consistent enough to stand in for Ibrahimovic, and Mourinho has shown from his impressive transfer outlay that he is a manager in a hurry to return United to the top of the league. In that regard, Griezmann — who scores freely when given the chance — looks like a ready-made solution to this problem.

United, for all their wealth, have something of a generation gap in their attack. In Martial and Marcus Rashford, they have arguably two of the world’s top 20 attacking talents aged 21 and under, but this fact has not helped them muster the goals that would have spurred a compelling title challenge. Ibrahimovic has perhaps only two more seasons of elite service, and so there is a fast-growing need to hand over his mantle.

Martial, whose season has been marked by off-field concerns, has plenty of games in which to play himself back into favour. As it stands, United are still in the running in the FA Cup, the Europa League and the League Cup, and if — the eternal if — they can be more decisive in front of goal, they can claim a Champions League place.

The need for goals is particularly pressing given that close rivals Liverpool and Arsenal are shortly due to face Chelsea, fixtures in which they may well drop points, while United will square up against City on Feb. 26. It may therefore be a pivotal month for Martial, who can take some solace from the fact that, unlike Depay, he has not been released in the January transfer window and thus remains, for now, very much a part of Mourinho’s plans.

If he is given a chance to start against Hull, he will look to return to the form that saw him dismiss Everton in last season’s FA Cup semifinal, a goal which probably ranks as that campaign’s most euphoric moment. With him in such mood, United will be too much for Hull — and he will begin to make anew his case to succeed Ibrahimovic as the forward on whom United, as the Swede and Wayne Rooney begin to make way, can truly rely on.