Pranav Kannan
Manchester United star Anthony Martial could replace Karim Benzema in the France squad for the World Cup
According to Manchester Evening News, Manchester United star Anthony Martial could be the selected one to replace injured French star striker Karim Benzema at the World Cup in Qatar.
Benzema pulled up injured in training yesterday and it was later confirmed that the Real Madrid star will definitely miss the World Cup. France have not yet announced a replacement for the talented star and Martial could be the answer.
Losing Benzema is a massive miss for the French national team with Didier Deschamps’s men already missing the likes of Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Christopher Nkunku through injury for the showpiece event.
It is going to be difficult for the talented team to defend their World Cup crown with injuries set to deter their planning and preparation. However, despite all these injuries, France still have a more than capable team.
Benzema has had his fair share of injury troubles this season. The player expected to replace him has not really had a clean slate with injuries either. Martial has missed much of the season through injury but has looked solid whenever fit.
Benzema’s injury could be a blessing in disguise for Martial. It has been a while since he has really been a part of the France setup and even if he is not a starter, he can still be important at the World Cup.
In the absence of Benzema, Deschamps is likely to go with one of Antoine Griezmann or Kylian Mbappe as the starting striker in his team but he will want an option off the bench and Martial can be very influential.
The biggest positive for Martial is the fact that he has been in pretty good goal-scoring nick in recent times and his quality in front of goal could prove to be clutch in such a tournament where moments players are as important as regular starters.
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Martial will be waiting patiently to see if he indeed is the chosen one to replace Benzema and if he is, the Frenchman will want to take this chance with open arms and impress for Les Blues.
