Anthony Martial will be sold if Manchester United buy another striker this summer, according to The Times.
The Frenchman, who is currently recovering from a knee injury that has kept him out of the Premier League run-in, has endured a difficult season in United’s attack.
Just four Premier League goals and three more in cup games represents a terribly disappointing return for a player who scored 23 in all competitions last time out.
Whilst Alex Telles’ arrival as competition at left back seemed to spur Luke Shaw to a higher level of performance this term, Edinson Cavani seems to have had the opposite effect on the 25-year-old.
Cavani has now renewed for another season at Old Trafford and with the emergence of Mason Greenwood and stories circulating in the media of United chasing the likes of Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Danny Ings, Martial looks to be moving further and further down the pecking order.
‘At one point in his career the sport’s most expensively acquired teenager, Anthony Martial is the designated casualty should United sign a star striker,’ The Times claims.
‘Pandemic or no pandemic, there is gold in goals.’
It is a spectacular fall from grace for a player who was runner up in The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award in 2019/20, just 2.5% behind Bruno Fernandes.
Reports claim that United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has urged the board to sign Spurs’ Harry Kane. It has been reported that a figure of around £120 million plus bonuses might be enough to persuade the London club to let him go.
United’s owners are highly unlikely to stump up such a figure but a part-exchange deal involving Martial could be a viable option, as The Mail has noted.
Martial has a market value of £43 million according to Transfermarkt. This could bring the cash figure for Kane to somewhere in the region of £80 million, similar to the amount United found to acquire the services of another Harry – captain Maguire.
Of course, the incoming Spurs manager and Martial himself would need to be enthusiastic about the exchange and club chairman Daniel Levy would have to be willing to match the Frenchman’s £250,000 per week salary, which is more than he currently pays Kane. This could be a significant problem.
Martial’s contract at United runs for three more years. On current form, it is doubtful that many clubs would be willing to match his salary. So moving him on, whether to Spurs or elsewhere, might prove to be difficult.
