£250K P/W Manchester United Flop Tipped To Join European Giant

Manchester United’s Anthony Martial is being closely watched by Spanish giants Barcelona ahead of a potential move.

When Man United splashed out an initial £34 million on Martial, with the deal rising to £60 million, he was the most expensive teenage footballer of all time, and while that record has since been well and truly smashed, it shows the promise and potential he possessed.

Martial was an exciting teenager playing out in Ligue 1 in 2015 when Man United took the plunge on the striker but since then he’s shown glimpses and flashes of brilliance but has never been able to do it on a consistent basis.

The French striker has a record of 89 goals in 304 appearances for Man United, which isn’t anything great and does raise the question as to why he’s still at the club and earning a monstrous wage every week.

Barcelona Interested In Signing Martial

He was initially loaned out to La Liga Side Sevilla back in January 2022 but also failed to make a serious impression over there, meaning he ended up back at Old Trafford with a significant lack of interest in the striker.

It’s no surprise though given his £250,000 per week salary will be putting a lot of potential suitors off a move, but as he enters the final 12 months of his contract, clubs can soon sign him for a cut-price transfer fee.

🚨 Barcelona are monitoring the situation of Anthony Martial at Manchester United.

His contract runs out in 2024 but United have an option to extend.

(Source: @MundoDeportivo) pic.twitter.com/SfkhPUwJr5

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) September 29, 2023

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are taking a very strong interest in the French striker as they look to hand Xavi further attacking firepower, especially with Joao Felix’s long-term future looking unclear given he’s only on loan with the La Liga giants.

French Striker Failed To Live Up To High Expectations

It’s believed that while Martial is indeed in the final 12 months of his contract, Man United hold an option to trigger an automatic one-year extension, which should allow them to protect the value of Martial and not allow him to leave for nothing.

Martial simply can’t be part of Erik ten Hag’s plans going forward because he can’t be relied upon having missed 98 games since he joined the club back in 2015, and the Dutch coach needs a more reliable centre forward to help the young and inexperienced Rasmus Hojlund lead the line.

Prior to his move to Old Trafford, and even since joining Man United, Martial has often seen his name linked with big clubs such as Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and even Arsenal, so a lot of clubs still rate him very highly, it’s just the lack of consistency, injury problems and huge wage demands that could see teams walk away.