UNITED SPECIAL Martial could be Pep’s nightmare

IN his two summer transfer windows at City, Pep Guardiola has tried to sign Kylian Mbappe.

Had the French starlet been willing, the Blues were ready to smash their club record to take him to the Etihad.

He is everything Guardiola covets in an attacker. Fast, skillful, composed and lethal.

It sounds a lot like another Frenchman, who also made his name at Monaco and may be the man most likely to concern Guardiola ahead of next week’s derby.

Had Louis van Gaal not swooped for the then 19-year-old in 2015, Anthony Martial may well have been high on Guardiola’s shopping list when he turned up at the Etihad the following summer.

He fits the mould perfectly.

Guardiola has been determined to inject speed and cutting edge into his City attack - approving of the signing of Raheem Sterling before his appointment, signing Leroy Sane and doggedly pursuing Mbappe.

Instead, it is Jose Mourinho who is reaping the benefits of Van Gaal’s finest acquisition at United - a player he famously described as a gift for his successor.

Hopes for Martial have remained high, even as he struggled for consistency in his second season in English football.

Within the club there is a strong belief he will mature into one of the game’s leading talents.

Fellow countryman and United ambassador Mikael Silvestre boldly proclaimed in the summer that he was every bit as talented as Mbappe, who commanded a £166m move to Paris St Germain after his outstanding form for Monaco last season. Martial’s £36m fee, which will rise to £58m if he reaches his full potential, was ridiculed following his move.

Witnessing his form this season particularly in the 4-2 win against Watford on Tuesday - and it’s easy to imagine him causing as much of a frenzy among Europe’s top clubs as Mbappe.

His clinical strike at Vicarage Road was his eighth in 12 starts, which is already as many as he scored in the entirety of last season.

By comparison, Romelu Lukaku has scored 12 in 20 starts.

Martial is now delivering on such a consistent basis that Mourinho is having to rethink his policy of rotating him with Marcus Rashford.

He looks certain to start against Arsenal on Saturday and City the following week, when he will be among Guardiola’s chief concerns.