Manchester United’s interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that Anthony Martial can take Cristiano Ronaldo’s time at Old Trafford as an example to progress further in his professional career. The Frenchman is widely regarded as one of the best young prospects for club and country but he has not produced performances on the consistent basis to take him to the next level.

Despite this, he has recently penned a fresh five-year contract with United and speaking shortly afterwards, Solskjaer said that Martial has the potential to reach the heights of Ronaldo, should he put the effort on and off the field, he said: “Well, of course that’s up to any player: how you make a decision on how to develop your own career.

“Cristiano was the best. The way he’s changed to now; that’s part of any player – you’ve got to model yourself on someone and you’ve got to have more challenges ahead of you. I speak about my experience at this club [with Ronaldo] and what [Martial] can achieve. I talk about Cristiano’s career, what he’s made, how he’s got there.”

“Martial had begun the season on the bench with former head coach Jose Mourinho having concerns with the attacker going AWOL“ during pre-season due to the birth of his second child. However, as the campaign progressed, Martial became the go-to “man for United upfront“, though the likes of Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba have eclipsed him in terms of productivity since Ole was placed temporary charge at the helm.

The Frenchman has recently been featuring from the bench for United during recent matches but he should return to the lineup for the forthcoming matches with Alexis Sanchez struggling to make an impact from the left side of the attack. Jesse Lingard, meanwhile, has performed better than the Chilean, though he has not been a threat on goal like last season.