Robert Pires urges Anthony Martial to join Arsenal as Jose Mourinho doesn’t show enough confidence in him at Manchester United
Martial has been linked with summer move to the Emirates and ex-Gunner Pires believes his talents are being wasted at Old Trafford
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ROBERT PIRES has told Anthony Martial to make the move to Arsenal this summer — because Jose Mourinho has no confidence in him as a player.
The Manchester United star has endured a frustrating time working under Mourinho at Old Trafford and has struggled to gain the trust of his manager.
He is one of the players who could be on his way out of the club this summer, and Arsenal are thought to be one of the clubs interested in snapping him up.
Gunners legend Pires has told the 22-year-old he could do a lot worse than making the move to the Emirates — and is convinced he has the ability to shine.
Pires said: "I’m a big fan of Anthony Martial. He’s very fast, he has excellent dribbling skills and he has the potential to score a lot of goals, but I think he has to play more football.
"I don’t know why he isn’t playing more for Manchester United and Jose Mourinho needs to show more confidence in him. I would welcome him at Arsenal."
World Cup winner Pires is still a regular at the Arsenal training ground, and often joins the squad for sessions.
That may change with the departure of Arsene Wenger at the end of the season — though a new boss has yet to be appointed by the Gunners board.
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Manchester City assistant boss Mikel Arteta has been linked with the role, but Pires believes he is not yet ready for such a big job.
However, he believes the vacancy is tailor-made for his former team-mate Patrick Vieira to step into.
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The 44-year-old added: "I would like to see Patrick Vieira be given a chance at Arsenal, but I don’t think Mikel Arteta is ready.
"Vieira is doing a great job with New York City so he has an advantage over Arteta who is learning a lot from Pep Guardiola as his assistant, but doesn’t have the pressure of being manager.
"Arteta is a good coach but it’s important he proves himself as a manager before coming to Arsenal.
"I would like to see the new manager keep with the Arsenal tradition of having an ex-player as his assistant. The club has had Pat Rice and Steve Bould and I hope that continues."
- Robert Pires was speaking to bwin.