Manchester United news: Anthony Martial reveals his affection for Arsenal and his hero Thierry Henry

Manchester United striker Anthony Martial revealed that he had a soft spot for Arsenal in his youth, with Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka among the stars he admired growing up.

The Gunners were tied to the movement for the former wonder of Monaco, but were not willing to match the club's badessment and were beaten to United's signature in 2015.

Martial is in the last year of his contract at Old Trafford and, if the renewal negotiations were to fail, Arsenal could seek to land the man that he had failed to sign.

And the French international admits he admired his compatriots and followed his heroes closely, while trying to imitate them as a pacy with good control.

"I have always followed English football. Manchester United because Patrice Evra was present and that he comes from the same city as me. I followed Arsenal when Thierry Henry was present, also Ulis, "he told the official website of Manchester United.

"For my French heroes, I had Thierry Henry, of course, and then Zinedine Zidane, Zizou. They were the best. I admired the attackers, number 10.

"Another player that I really liked was Nicolas Anelka. He was a very good player, fast with a lot of talent. "

Martial also mentioned two Brazilian icons that heavily influenced him because of their natural flair and admitted that he often watched video clips of his various idols before the games in the hope of recreating him. even their talents.

"My two great heroes were both Brazilian: Ronaldinho and Ronaldo because they had magic in their feet! Almost all players in my age group at the time would probably tell me the same thing.

"I watched videos of everyone! Henry, Ronaldo – I watched all the attackers on the Internet and sometimes, just before a match, I watched action clips myself so that I could reproduce what they were doing in those videos. "

However, despite his affection for Arsenal and the current United club, Martial's loyalty was in the ranks of the French club of Lyon, where he would begin his professional career at the age of 17.

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"When I was a child, my favorite team was Lyon. It was at the time when almost all the best players were at the club. Lyon was really my team and that's also why I went to their academy.

"Karim Benzema was there, Juninho Pernambucano, with big free kicks. There was Lisandro Lopez, who went there after that. They had a lot of good players. "

Martial and United are back in action Tuesday as they face the Young Boys in the Champions League at Old Trafford.