Gary Lineker exclusive: Jose Mourinho would be mad to give up on Anthony Martial

Gary Lineker has urged Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to find a place in his plans for French forward Anthony Martial, after a summer of speculation linking the Frenchman with a move away from Old Trafford.

Martial, 21, struggled to make a positive impression during Mourinho’s first season as United manager, with the striker signed from Monaco amid plenty of fanfare in the summer of 2015 starting just 18 Premier League games last season.

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Inter Milan are believed to have made a bid to sign Martial as they held discussions with United over the sale of Croatian winger Ivan Perisic, but former England captain Lineker believes Mourinho needs to hone the youthful talents of Martial and Marcus Rashford this season.

“I like Martial a lot, but he seems to be struggling to get into the United side and I would like to see Mourinho getting more from him this season,” BT Sport presenter Liverpool told Yahoo Sport in an exclusive interview.

“Mourinho has some delightful selection dilemmas there and with Marcus Rashford looking like a star in the making as he comes through the ranks at United and Martial has been the one missing out.

“To have two young players like Martial and Rashford developing at United at the same time – two of the best young players in the world – is a wonderful situation for Mourinho have.

“What we know about Mourinho is that he is respecter or reputations and he has shown time and again that he will make the right decisions for his team, even if it might not always be popular.

“United have Champions League football to deal with this season and that is why they need this big squad. Players like Martial may not start the first Premier League game of the season, but his chances will come this season and he needs to take them.”

Lineker believes Mourinho will have ‘no excuses’ if United fail to mount a sustained push for major honours this season, as he believes he now has a squad equipped to challenge for the Premier League title.

“You look at this United squad and there is talent all over the pitch,” adds Lineker. “Never mind how do you get Martial and Rashford into the same team with Romelu Lukaku, but how to you also fit in Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba and now Nemanja Matic.

“The signings United have made have added to Mourinho’s options and I would anticipate they will spend again before the transfer window closes to strengthen once again, so there can be no excuses if they don’t make a strong push for the title this season.

“Before a ball is kicked, I would say the title race will be probably be between United and Manchester City this season, with the two local rivals having the best squads for what is a physically demanding English Premier League.

“You are going to get injuries in this league and you need quality players to come in when that happens. Strength in depth is where United and City look to be a step ahead of their rivals at the top of the table.”

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