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By Jonathan Johnson ( @Jon_LeGossip )

When AS Monaco signed teenage prodigy Anthony Martial from Olympique Lyonnais for the modest sum of €5million back in the summer of 2013, the move was hailed as a major coup by the principality outfit.

Les Monegasques used Lyon’s situation - being registered on the Paris Stock Exchange - to their advantage in order to land the then 17-year-old attacking sensation.

OL were desperate to hang onto one of their many bright young stars, but they had failed to offload Bafetimbi Gomis and had to sell one player in order to report balanced yearly results.

When Monaco got wind of this, they waited as long as they possible could before lodging their offer, knowing that Lyon’s financially shrewd president Jean-Michel Aulas would be forced to do some rare poor business in that situation.

Martial was lured to Stade Louis II and was part of a long and impressive list of players who headed to Le Rocher that summer.

Now, almost two years later, Ligue 1 is starting to see exactly why Monaco’s signing of Martial was such an intelligent transfer and just how much of a bargain the €5million they spent actually is.

So far this season, the now 19-year-old striker has scored 10 goals in all competitions and has laid on three more.

Nine of those 10 strikes and one of the assists have come since the start of 2015 and the French under-21 international recently enjoyed a prolific run of six goals and an assist in his last eight Ligue 1 appearances.

Compared with last season’s two goals in 11 outings, Martial is making real progress this campaign and has clearly benefitted from the departure of Radamel Falcao to Manchester United on loan and Dimitar Berbatov’s mercurial form in front of goal.

At present, the teenager is tied with the Bulgarian at the top of the club’s scoring charts in Le Championnat with seven goals to his name. There is a good chance that he will leave Berbatov trailing in his wake before the end of the season.

Martial is an immense talent. Not only does he stand out because of his incredible turn of pace, but he also boasts impressive composure, a neat first touch - especially on his preferred right foot - and he finishes well.

Normally played through the middle up top, the Monaco No. 23 is capable of playing out wide in a similar way to Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette. But like his fellow Frenchman, Martial performs better in the middle.

It was a slow start to the season for the Monaco man, having to settle for mostly substitute appearances up until a run of starts in December. However, the teenage sensation scored an important equaliser for Leonardo Jardim’s men in a 1-1 draw away at Paris Saint-Germain in early October.

By the time Martial started to feature from the start more regularly in December, he was ready to step up and make a contribution. Two assists in as many games helped Les Monegasques secure wins over Toulouse and Olympique de Marseille and from that point on, Jardim utilised him more often from the start in games - even in the UEFA Champions League.

One goal in the Coupe de la Ligue and two more in the Coupe de France furthered his claims for continued inclusion in the Portuguese tactician’s starting plans and Martial finally started to deliver on that faith with a goal in a 3-1 win away at Evian Thonon Gaillard.

A double in a 3-1 home win over Bastia was followed by strikes against Stade de Reims and AS Saint-Etienne, before the Frenchman scored one and provided another in a convincing win away at Stade Malherbe Caen.

The big difference for Martial this season has been maturity.

Last campaign, it looked as if he might need to go on loan in order to develop enough to feature prominently in Jardim’s plans. However, the teenager has proved that all he needed to do was be patient and wait for his chance, which he has now taken with both hands.

Unfortunately for Monaco, Martial was attracting big interest from foreign clubs at the start of the season - notably Valencia CF in La Liga.

His improved form since the start of 2015 will have no doubt peaked the Spaniards’ interest, while other European giants - like Italian side Juventus - have also been credited with an interest in the past.

Les Monegasques will be faced with the issue of having to find Falcao a new club when he inevitably returns from Manchester United this summer, but their real challenge might turn out to be keeping hold of hot property Martial instead.