Ranieri: Martial something special

Ranieri was responsible for bringing the 19-year-old to the Principality in 2013 during his time in charge of Monaco, signing him for £3.5 million from Ligue 1 rivals Lyon.

Sagnol received some criticism at the time about his decision to field the inexperienced striker, but has now expressed his delight that his gamble is paying off, with Martial having scored three goals in two Premier League games in 2015-16.

Prior to Manchester United’s new signing Anthony Martial even kicking a ball, there was quite a storm brewing around his whopping £36 million signature.

Anthony Martial is a clinical finisher who can “smell” a goal, according his former coach Claudio Ranieri.

Martial added to his sensational debut goal against Liverpool by scoring a brace against Southampton in United’s 3-2 win at St Mary’s at the weekend.

Ranieri said: “The sporting director told me there was a good striker with Lyon”.

The current Bordeaux manager said: “It’s easy to say: ‘Oh hey guys!” Then at the end of the season, the sporting director said “Claudio, there’s an opportunity to buy this guy”.

“What’s sure is that when I called him up to the under-21s and I started him, he was 17 and he was playing in the fourth division with [the reserve team of] Monaco“.

“Maybe he would not be involved in the game with his team then suddenly – whoosh, he comes to life”.

“It’s important for him to score as he cost a lot of money and the people expect goals from him”, the manager stressed.