Manchester United have reportedly turned down a bid from Arsenal for former Monaco starlet Anthony Martial, with Arsene Wenger interested in bringing the French forward to the Emirates in January.
According to transfermarketweb.com, Arsenal have had a first attempt at signing the Frenchman turned down — but there is no suggestions as to how much that bid was.
Martial moved to United from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in September 2015, for a fee of £36 million which could rise as far as to £58 million; his contract has three bonuses within it worth £7.2 million each.
The first was for Martial scoring 25 goals within four years at the club — something he managed with his final goal of the 2016-17 season.
The second clause will be triggered if the Frenchman earns 25 France caps inside four years, of which he currently has 15, so it looks as though that one will be paid too.
The third clause, whilst still possible, is less of a certainty: United will pay Monaco another installment of £7.2 million if Anthony Martial wins the Balon d’Or before June 2019.
Martial is certainly a player of the right mould for a Balon d’Or win in the future, but with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and more already at that prize-winning level, it is perhaps a stretch to suggest that Martial will break those ranks in time to win the 2018 Balon D’Or and have Monaco receive their bonus fee.
It is unsurprising, though, that Wenger wants to move for him; talent aside, the electric forward may consider a move away from United to get consistent starts ahead of next summer’s World Cup — whilst his form at United is impressive right now, he is tussling week in, week out, with Marcus Rashford for a starting spot.
