Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani to surpass their goal tallies from last season as they compete for the Manchester United striker’s role.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “I think with the forwards that we have, yeah, Anthony will score more goals than he did last season. I think Mason will only develop. Edinson started late in the season, I think he’ll score more goals.- Jadon will come in and chip in with goals, so I feel confident that the burden is not just on Bruno to score goals. Of course, he was fantastic, his return with goals and assists have been unbelievable since he came into the club. Marcus, of course, will lose out on the first couple of months of the season, which is not great for him but when he comes back he’ll be fresh again. So to be able to spread the goals with the forwards with more goals, that will be important for us. An attacking midfielder shouldn’t be the only one scoring 15/20 goals. As I’ve said before, we really rate Anthony. Last season was disappointing – he had injuries, he lost some form – the season before he was our top scorer. If Anthony is taking all the penalties or Marcus Rashford last season would have taken all the penalties that’s another 10 or 15 goals for a centre forward. But we’ve got Bruno who’s so confident on pens and you can’t take that away from him, really. I’m very confident and I like what I see from Anthony when I see him in training now and when I see him in the gym he has that little bit of grit between his teeth again.”
Martial endured the worst season of his United career, contributing a measly seven goals, whereas Cavani struck 17 times even though he did not start in the Premier League until December. Bruno Fernandes top scored for United with 28 goals, followed by Marcus Rashford on 21, but Rashford’s performance level this calendar year was low before he underwent shoulder surgery last week. Mason Greenwood scored 12 times in a progressive second full season with United and, with the addition of Jadon Sancho, Solskjaer does not expect Fernandes to be burdened as much.
