AP, Manchester :
Manchester United was set to make French forward Anthony Martial the most expensive teenager in world football after a chaotic day of transfer dealings at Old Trafford that also saw Javier Hernandez and Adnan Januzaj offloaded.
The French Football Federation said Monday that Martial, the 19-year-old Monaco player who has been compared to France great Thierry Henry, was granted permission to leave France’s national squad to sign a contract at United.
Reports in the French and English media said Martial could cost United 36 million pounds ($55.5 million), a hefty fee for a player who has started only 29 games and was just called up by France for the first time ahead of upcoming friendlies against Serbia and Portugal. Martial, who signed a new contract at Monaco this summer until 2019, would surpass Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas Moura as the costliest teenager in the history of the game.
United’s overhaul under manager Louis van Gaal gathered pace with the sale of Mexico striker Javier Hernandez to Bayer Leverkusen on a three-year deal, while attacking midfielder Adnan Januzaj was sent on loan to Borussia Dortmund for the season and back-up goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard left for West Bromwich Albion.
United was also negotiating with Real Madrid for the sale of goalkeeper David de Gea, who is yet to play this season because he hasn’t been in the right frame of mind amid speculation about his future. However, by the time the transfer window closed in Spain, a deal had yet to be announced.
The 20-time English champions are taking a gamble on Martial after scoring just three goals in their opening four matches of the Premier League season, raising doubts about the strength of their attacking options. Wayne Rooney has been used by Van Gaal as a lone striker but hasn’t scored in the league since April 4. The only other striker in Van Gaal’s squad now is youngster James Wilson.
For the second straight year, United is turning to Monaco to solve its striker shortage in the final hours of Europe’s summer transfer window.
