Chelsea and Anthony Martial can rescue each other’s hopes with a transfer

Chelsea and Anthony Martial can save each other’s Premier League ambitions by working out a transfer this summer. For once, the Blues would be on the winning end of a Jose Mourinho cast-off.

Anthony Martial has something Jose Mourinho disdains and the modern Premier League demands: speed. Martial is very much following in the footsteps of Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah, footsteps which first lead to the bench behind Mourinho and then unceremoniously out the door. Chelsea can circumvent the usual years in the wilderness by buying Martial this summer, and accelerating his path to Premier League and Champions League success.

Martial would address two important issues at Chelsea: depth among the wingers and speed on the attack. Martial’s arrival would allow the Blues to either sell Pedro or transition him into central midfield, as Antonio Conte has shown some inclination towards doing. With Martial primarily playing on the left wing, he would complement Eden Hazard in a No. 10 role. Martial could also play on the right, where Chelsea will hopefully have an opening soon after selling Willian.

A front-line of Martial, Hazard and Alvaro Morata would give Chelsea the counter-attack and press they did not have in 2017/18. Martial’s speed would make up for Morata’s somewhat limited ability in hold-up play, as Martial would be in position very soon after Morata took possession.

Martial prefers to play more centrally than on the wings. Chelsea’s recent formations of wing-backs minding the flanks and central midfielders or outside centre-backs pushing high into the attack would allow Martial to stay on the inside. With the wing-backs stretching the play and Eden Hazard deforming the defence, Martial would have plenty of space to run at and behind the defensive line. He would also give Chelsea another option in the 3-4-1-2, playing in the pocket between two strikers.

Martial has the technique and speed Chelsea needed so many times this season when they would run up against a wall of defenders stationed across the top of the box. Only Hazard was capable of dribbling at the defenders. He had little support other than laying off the ball for a one-two. If he made it through the defence, he was just as alone in the box as he was outside it.

Anthony Martial would give Chelsea another dimension on the attack, and give defenders another Blue to worry about. He would also give the Blues a plan for the future. Chelsea need to move on from some of their older players, and could sell three wingers this summer: Pedro, Willian and Victor Moses. But they cannot do so without a replacement walking through the door. Callum Hudson-Odoi is one option down the depth chart, but he is not ready for a full season.

The Blues need quality, fitness and experience in their attack. If they can find that in a player several years before his prime – like Martial – so much the better.

The cagey, defence-first football Chelsea and Manchester United played in the FA Cup was nearly anachonistic. Manchester City and Liverpool are setting the tone for the next era of Premier League success with their high levels of speed and technique. Jose Mourinho has been behind the curve of this evolution for years. Anthony Martial looks to be the next casualty of Mourinho’s persistence. Antonio Conte is more tactically adaptable than Mourinho, but needs the players to support his ideas.

Manchester United, not being Chelsea, will not want to sell any player – particularly not Martial – to a Premier League rival. Martial has plenty of suitors in Europe, so the Blues will have to move quickly with a sizable offer. That is a completely non-Chelsea thing to do, so the transfer does not look likely from either side.

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But if Martial stays in the Premier League next season and Chelsea are still fielding Willian or Pedro, a second season in the Europa League will come as no surprise. We’d say this would be a fireable offence for the technical director, but, well, you know.