If Antony Martial “walked on the street” wearing gloves in May, people would look at him “oddly”, according to Paul Parker, who has ripped the Man Utd striker to shreds for his decision to keep his hands warm.
The French international joined from AS Monaco back in 2015 for a fee that could potentially rise to £60million, when he was only 19 years old, making him the most expensive teenager in world football at the time.
He did hit the ground running, scoring on his debut against Liverpool before a game-winning brace at Southampton.
That is probably as good as it has been for Martial at Old Trafford, though.
The 2019/20 campaign was a solid one for the former Monaco wonderkid – who scored 17 goals in 32 Premier League games alongside four in seven in Europe.
Since then, he has scored 16 times in 73 games for the Red Devils while failing to contribute effectively due to his poor work rate.
It is fair to say that Martial has come under lots of criticism during his time at Old Trafford, and this season has been no different.
His campaign has been massively impacted by injuries, though he has looked good in fits and starts when fit enough to play in Erik ten Hag’s side.
This is the longest Martial has gone without missing a game having appeared in Man Utd’s previous 12 fixtures across all competitions.
He was on the scoresheet against Wolves in the Premier League last Saturday, but ex-Man Utd defender Parker has taken exception to the 27-year-old’s attire.
Parker really dislikes the fact Martial wears gloves; especially as it is May.
Martial didn’t actually wear gloves against Wolves, nor did he when he came off the bench at West Ham. In fact, the only time he has this month was during the game against Brighton, which was a late kick-off in fairness.
Anyhow, Parker has said wearing gloves in May means Martial has “something wrong with him”.
“He has everything about him that a player like Anthony Martial doesn’t,” Parker told Soccernews.
“Martial comes out and wears gloves. I’m not saying that we are the warmest country in the world but come on…we are in May.
“If you walked on the street with gloves now, people would look at you oddly. Him wearing gloves should be an indication that there is something wrong with him.
“His performances fit someone who would wear gloves in May on a football pitch. It doesn’t make any sense, so Erik ten Hag brought in [Wout] Weghorst to get an honest player and a die for the cause and not someone who is going to tiptoe.”
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