Manchester United Transfer News: Anthony Martial Guidance Offered by Luke Shaw

Anthony Martial will be the name on everyone’s lips as Manchester United gear up to face Liverpool on Saturday and in new Red Devils team-mate Luke Shaw, he has someone who can offer firsthand guidance of how to cope with the expectations of being a big-money, teenage signing at Old Trafford.

Shaw, who is enjoying his best run of form since joining the Red Devils, has revealed he will be doing his utmost to help Martial settle in, per Matthew Dunn of the Daily Express:

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Of course I am always willing to help people no matter how old they are. I know Anthony might find it a bit tough with everything that's going on with social media.

We have great people at the club in terms of staff and players. We will all welcome him very well. He is a young player with a lot of potential. Hopefully we can help him.

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As we can see here courtesy of Sky Sports Football, there aren’t many figures in the game better placed to offer advice than Shaw, who has gone through an eerily similar transfer:

The lesson many should learn from the England international’s expensive switch is that we shouldn’t expect too much too soon from Martial.

While there are attributes in place to get very excited about—most notably the Frenchman’s searing pace, brutish strength and clinical finishing—United’s new No. 9 is not the finished article yet. Bleacher Report’s Sam Tighe took a look at how he’s likely to develop in the early stages of his United career:

Shaw endured a ropey start to life at Old Trafford, with patchy form and a lack of fitness hampering his first-team chances. But in the early weeks of the season he’s been arguably United’s best player and as any youngster should do, has made some telling improvements to his game, as noted by football writer Seb Stafford-Bloor:

There are few United fans who grew impatient with Shaw last season, even though he didn’t burst into the first team immediately. And you suspect the overwhelming majority of those who frequent Old Trafford will be just as understanding with Martial, who will be an enthralling but perhaps inconsistent influence.

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But the external pressures will quickly come when it comes to the £36 million man. After all, United have no other orthodox centre-forward options aside from skipper Wayne Rooney, meaning, with the Red Devils in four different competitions, Martial will be tasked with playing a lot of minutes. His fee will ensure the minutiae of every performance will be under the microscope too.

As noted by Daniel Harris of the Guardian, it seems that in the case of young players like Shaw and Martial, there are plenty ready to jump to rash assessments:

The Frenchman will need time to settle into a new dressing room, an alien culture and an unforgiving style of football. Ideally, manager Louis van Gaal would drip feed him minutes from the substitutes' bench before fully immersing Martial in the Premier League. But given United’s ineffective attacking displays so far, it’d be no surprise if Martial was thrown straight into the team.

The teenager could rise to the challenge. But there’s just as much chance he will toil initially in what is a notoriously difficult division. Should the latter scenario come to fruition, those ready to write Martial off would do well to remember Shaw’s start to life at Old Trafford and how he’s now beginning to turn things around.