Anthony Martial and his Manchester United shirt (twitter.com/ManUtd)
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Thierry Henry has described Manchester United's £36m purchase of teenager Anthony Martial from Monaco as a "massive gamble".
The 19-year-old forward Martial was dubbed "the new Henry" in France owing to his rapid style of play.
Henry, however, who like Martial played for Monaco, says Martial has to be given time to adapt to the Premier League.
Henry did not hit the ground running for Arsenal after he moved from Juventus in 1999, but eventually became the club's record goalscorer, with an imperious 228 goals.
"He has pace, can he score a a lot of goals? I actually don’t know because he's only played 52 games," Henry told Sky Sports.
Arsenal legend Thierry now works as a pundit for Sky (GETTY IMAGES)
"It’s a weird one for me to say. It’s a massive gamble that you need to take nowadays because of the situation Man United have.
"We saw him at the Emirates last season playing with Monaco and causing trouble to the Arsenal defence, he has a bright future. But there’s always a question mark, whether he can perform.
Manchester United: Summer 2015 completed transfers
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"We saw it last season with [Angel] Di Maria, an established, experienced player who couldn’t make it through the ranks at United.
"He played at the weekend against PSG and he can play in the middle. Is it going to take him a bit of time to adjust and understand what the job requires? Yes, because he only played 52 professional games. It [the fee] is mind-blowing."
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