Robert Pires urges Manchester United forward to join Arsenal

Arsenal favourite Robert Pires has hailed the qualities of Anthony Martial and believes his compatriot would be better off with a fresh challenge away from Manchester United.

The France international has looked far off from his best form since Alexis Sanchez's arrival and in this period, he has been in-and-out of the starting lineup.

Martial most-recently featured for United during their 1-0 defeat at Brighton where his performance was below-par but Pires believes the attacker should be playing more regularly to maintain a consistency.

"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," he is quoted as saying by The Sun.

"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."

Martial has just over one year left on his existing deal with the Mancunian giants and this has ignited talks of him leaving the club amid interest from some of Europe's elite including Barcelona.

He is currently said to be valued at around £60m but Jose Mourinho is likely to block the player's exit to league rival during this summer's transfer window.