The Man Utd manager has made an effort to get the most out of a player with whom Jose Mourinho did not always agree during his tenure at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag now has Man Utd operating like a well-oiled machine after a shaky start and has the Red Devils currently sat in the much-coveted fourth-placed position.

While what those at the top of the United hierarchy tasked Ten Hag with achieving in his debut season at the helm is private between the two parties, it seems likely that securing the club’s return to the Champions League would have been the number one ambition on the list and he looks odds-on to achieve such a feat.

Another wish of those running things at United, more specifically co-owner Joel Glazer, is for Anthony Martial to become a key feature in the side once again after struggling towards the back end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick’s respective reigns.

It may not be common knowledge among all corners of the United fanbase, but Martial has a big fan in Glazer – who is once rumoured to have likened the Frenchman to the late, great Pele.

Martial hasn’t always caught the eye of every United manager since his arrival in 2015, with Jose Mourinho by no means particularly keen on the former Monaco forward and actually tried to sell him were it not for some late intervention from Glazer himself.

At the time, United wanted to cash in on Martial to generate the required funds to sign Ivan Rakitic from Barcelona. Despite the glaring benefits, the American businessman stepped in and ensured Martial was staying put.

While that brief dispute between Mourinho and those above him in the United food-chain may or may not have caused issues, it could be worth Ten Hag’s while trying to get the best out of Martial before he contemplates moving him on.

It is for that reason that Martial’s promising performances serve as such good news for the Dutchman. Instead of trying to exile him from the first-team fold like some of his predecessors, Ten Hag has often given Martial minutes whenever the 27-year-old has been fit.

Anthony Martial is loved by members of the United hierarchy

Whether it be from the start or off the bench, Martial has featured in some capacity for every single United league game he has been available for this term – the problem is, that’s only seven of a possible 16.

Fitness remains the root of all Martial’s problems but he has managed to get plenty of minutes under his belt in United’s last four league fixtures and even netted his third goal of the campaign during the 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest late last year.

With January boasting fixtures against both Manchester City and Arsenal for United, Ten Hag will need Martial to prove that Joel Glazer was right to intervene and keep him around as the Red Devils continue to chase Champions League qualification.

source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/