Where will Martial fit in Man Utd?

The 19-year-old Frenchman has arrived at Old Trafford for an astronomical fee but he could give manager Louis van Gaal a number of new options in his forward line

He's been likened to Thierry Henry and arrives at Manchester United on a deal which could eventually come in just £1 million short of the British transfer record.

No pressure, then.

Anthony Martial's confirmed move from Monaco, which the French club say is worth at least €70 million (£51.4m) and could reach €80m (£58.7m), comes at a time when good news has been in short supply for United, particularly in light of Sunday's loss to Swansea City and Monday's farcical David de Gea saga.

But the addition of the 19-year-old could give them a huge boost in a forward line which has been lacking exactly the kind of pace and penetration which Martial offers. The only question now relates to Louis van Gaal's exact deployment of the France Under-21s international as he looks to reshape his forward line for the two-pronged Premier League and Champions League assault to come.

So where could Martial fit in? Goal looks at the options available to the Dutchman...

STAR STRIKER?

In France, Martial has become the main man in attack, usurping Dimitar Berbatov to lead the line for Monaco with some aplomb. His 12 goals in 29 starts last season may not look like a sensational record on paper but it was when he was given a significant run in the side at the tail end of the campaign that he racked up the vast majority of his strikes.

As a centre forward, he offers the kind of threat that Henry delivered in an Arsenal shirt once he had adapted to his new role after arriving from Juventus as a winger in 1999. Martial's ability to drop off his marker and collect the ball would be well supplemented by three men behind him who have different threats to the opposition's back line.

While Juan Mata adds a clinical eye to the attack, Wayne Rooney loves to exploit space with his clever timing of runs and Memphis Depay's directness would also help to take some of the spotlight away from Martial in the eyes of the Premier League's uncompromising centre-back partnerships.

WINGING IT?

Martial's pace and trickery could be well used in a wider starting spot, should Van Gaal wish to continue to use Wayne Rooney as a central striker.

The United skipper has been given the starting spot at No.9 so far this season and netted a hat-trick in the Champions League play-off trip to Club Brugge but there remain a number of question marks in relation to his best position in this side.

The addition of a second speed demon aside from Memphis Depay could well take some of the pressure off Rooney, especially if Martial were given the licence to regularly get up beyond his captain. And Martial could always supply a slightly more narrow option so that he can pull his full-back inside and allow Matteo Darmian space into which to run from right-back.

TRIPLE THREAT?

While Van Gaal has spoken about his current 4-2-3-1 setup being a pseudo-4-3-3 in press conferences, a more traditional three-man forward line could well be deployed now that Martial is on the books.

The youngster's quality in pulling defences out of shape could well be best used by giving centre-backs more to think about with a narrow forward line. Any burst of pace over short distances could well be deadly and Martial has the quality to ask questions around the edge of the box.

There are doubts that Van Gaal would be willing to change the shape of his side so dramatically but he proved in his first season in charge that he is open to alterations.

MARTIAL ARTISTRY?

If Van Gaal does want Rooney to lead the line but also wishes Martial to have a big influence in the centre, he could well exploit the Frenchman's qualities by playing him off the front man.

In this shape, Martial would look to pick up space in between the lines and would often find himself up against slower defensive midfield players instead of the sometimes sharper central defenders. Interchanges with United's other speedy forward threat, Memphis, would also play a bigger factor.

While such a formation appears less likely than Martial at No.9 and Rooney in the hole, a fluid system would often find the pair taking this final shape quite regularly in any case.