Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville got Twitter talking on Monday night when he claimed Anthony Martial is more talented than Raheem Sterling, although Sterling swiftly showed how good he is by setting up Manchester City's opening goal in the Premier League clash against Tottenham.
Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football show, Neville had claimed:
"He hasn't got Martial's talent, Raheem Sterling. But the transformation on his game in the last twelve months is from the coaching.
Sterling has undoubtedly flourished with Pep Guardiola as his manager and he was directly involved in the opening goal at Wembley, where the pitch resembled a potato field after hosting an NFL match on Sunday afternoon.
Sterling showed no concern for the state of the pitch as he exhibited a devastating turn of pace to tear past his England teammate, Kieran Trippier, before playing a sublime square pass into the path of Riyad Mahrez, who made no mistake when slotting home.
See the goal in all of its glory in the Twitter video at the bottom of this page.
The assist was Sterling's 52nd in 152 league appearances for City, during which he has scored 48 goals.
The 23-year-old has undoubtedly come on leaps-and-bounds since joining City from Liverpool for £49m in the summer of 2015. Many people questioned the wisdom of spending so much on the enigmatic winger but he continues to produce the goods on a regular basis and it is frightening to think that there is still so much to come from him.
Anthony Martial's career in England has followed a similar path to that of Sterling, although he hasn't quite enjoyed the success of the England star just yet.
The 22-year-old joined United from Monaco for £36m during the summer transfer window of 2015 - the same window as Sterling joined City - although, unlike Sterling, the Frenchman didn't get the benefit of a full pre-season with his new teammates under his belt before the new season started. Martial also faced the challenge of adapting to life in a new country.
Martial has yet to truly convince but his statistics are impressive - 41 league goals and 26 assists in 147 games. They pale in comparison to those of Sterling but then his returns should be taken in the context of the United teams he has had to play for, as well as the fact he has played his football under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
The one factor that does count against Martial is the fact that Neville highlighted on Monday Night Football - Martial averages 9.1km per match in terms of distance covered, compared to the 10.5km covered by Sterling on average.
Sterling has enjoyed the benefit of playing for an attack-minded coach in a team oozing world-class talent. Martial has endured a more difficult time but there are signs he is ready to deliver on his potential on a consistent basis.
Sterling again showed on Monday night that he is already a consistently devastating force in the Premier League...
