Anthony Martial is out of favor at Manchester United and according to Get French Football News, the French forward who has once again invoked the wrath of Jose Mourinho was offered to Paris Saint-Germain. However, the Ligue 1 giants have rejected an opportunity to sign the 22-year-old for £71 million.
Jose Mourinho appeared to be extremely frustrated by the absence of first-team players after their pre-season international friendly defeat against Liverpool. He was critical of Anthony Martial who was allowed to leave for the birth of his baby.
He said,
“Anthony Martial has the baby and after the baby is born – beautiful baby, full of health, thank God – he should be here and he is not here.”
Martial was enjoying his best run in a Manchester United shirt before the arrival of Alexis Sanchez pushed him down the pecking order. As a result, the talented forward lost out on a place in France’s World Cup squad that went on to win the World Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain are always on the lookout for top French players to recruit. They were thus understood to have been interested in Anthony Martial.
However, Jose Mourinho reportedly asked Thomas Tuchel to cough up £71 million if he is to secure Anthony Martial’s services for the upcoming season. But PSG cannot afford to offer so much money for a player as they have to comply with the Financial Fairplay Rules in the aftermath of Kylian Mbappe’s £166m permanent move to the capital.
Earlier, Martial’s agent Lamboley had come out and claimed that he wants to leave Old Trafford.
“After thinking about all the factors and possibilities, Anthony wants to leave Manchester United,”
“There are lots of factors, and right now it’s too early to talk about them.
“I think that when United, the most powerful club in the world, do not find an agreement after eight months of negotiations then they do not really want to keep such an important player in their squad. That’s why this decision has come – it’s a well-thought-out decision.
“Everyone will have their opinion but I think he needs to resume his career. The time has come.”
However, it now looks as though Anthony Martial will stay at Manchester United.
Aziz Benaaddane, one of Martial’s coaches at Les Ulis, told the BBC in 2015 that as a six-year-old, Martial was able to run in a straight line to the goal: “We’ve got 400 youngsters playing for us but a talent like that arrives only once every five or six years. We felt it, we saw the potential and we pushed him”. Mahamadou Niakite, another coach, added that Martial was put in higher age groups, as at the age of six he had the ability of most eight-year-olds, and at around the age of 12–13 he was focused on becoming a professional.
According to journalist Philippe Auclair, Martial plays in a style similar to former French international Thierry Henry, with speed and technical ability both in wide positions and up front. Henry himself praised Martial after his goalscoring debut, while Martial himself refuted the comparison, saying “I don’t think we have the same type of game – he was very quick whereas I rely more on power and technique. But it’s always good to be compared to great players”.
In the aftermath of France’s 2–1 win over Denmark in October 2015, Fenerbahçe defender Simon Kjær was reportedly stunned after playing against him to learn that Martial was just 19. He told French newspaper L’Équipe, “He’s really good for 19. I didn’t know him when I was in France. He’s very, very hard to mark because he knows how to do a lot of things. Not only is he quick, but he’s also technically good.”
Martial, for his part, has said that he prefers to play up front, but that “if the coach puts me on the wing then that means it is better for the team and for me that is the most important thing.”