Manchester United: Louis van Gaal confident Anthony Martial can play in four different positions

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes Anthony Martial is capable of excelling in four different positions in the side's attack. Martial, 19, immediately shone in a lone striker role following his deadline day arrival from Monaco, scoring four goals in his first four games including a wonderful solo effort on his debut against Liverpool.

In the club's 3-0 victory over Everton on 17 October, he was shifted out to the left of an attacking three, a role he has also taken up for the France national team. With Wayne Rooney leading the line, the teenager excelled in the wider role, nullifying the forward threat of Everton full-back Seamus Coleman while at the same time causing the Republic of Ireland international plenty of problems in attack.

Having already shown quality in two roles, Van Gaal has suggested he is ready to experiment with Martial in a wider role on the right and in the no. 10 slot. "He [Martial] can play, in my opinion, in four positions," Van Gaal told MUTV. "He can play at seven, as a right winger, 11 – the left-winger, the striker's position and also at 10, I believe. But he has played in Monaco always in the left-winger position. That is why I put him there against Everton and also because of Coleman. I think he is a very good right-back so we could take benefit of the qualities of Martial also."

Van Gaal also believes he has another versatile option in Jesse Lingard. The 22-year-old was given his Premier League debut by the Dutchman at right wing-back on the first day of the 2014/15 season but suffered a knee injury that ruled him out for five months.

The England Under-21 international is now back in the first team after coming on in the second half of the victory over Everton and could feature in attacking positions across the midfield, according to van Gaal.

"Lingard's competitor is Juan Mata and his competitor is also, for example, Ander Herrera or Wayne Rooney or, when he is played on the left, because he can also play on the left, his competitor was Memphis [Depay]. So it's not easy to come in.

"He trained from the beginning, also in the United States of America, and maybe you remember his goal [against Barcelona]? He played very good in that match and trained very well. He has to wait for his moment and maybe his moment has arrived now."