West Ham United have made an audacious enquiry to take Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford on loan for the remainder of the season from Manchester United, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Slaven Bilic will be on the market for a new frontman in the January transfer window with the club set to cut short Simone Zaza’s loan spell and send the Italy international back to Juventus following his disastrous six-month stint in the Premier League.
With Diafra Sakho currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and Jonathan Calleri not in the first-team picture following his own summer move, coupled with Andy Carroll’s regular fitness concerns, West Ham will need to strengthen their offensive options to help them steer clear of the bottom three.
As a result, the Hammers are looking to take advantage of the face neither Martial nor Rashford are getting regular first team football at United to take them on a temporary deal until the end of the season.
Martial has been told to buck up his ideas by Jose Mourinho after falling down the pecking order under the new United boss, while Rashford, 19, is only likely to get in the team on the left-wing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic the first choice striker.
However, United are expected to rebuff West Ham’s advances with both players still well thought of at the club and expected to have a huge future at Old Trafford. With Mourinho’s side still fighting on four fronts this season, there will be game time for both players, although not as regular if they were to move to West Ham in January.
Since the start of last season no player has scored more goals in the Premier League for United than Martial (12).
For more stats on Anthony Martial, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
