Confirmed: Manchester United agree £36m fee with Monaco for striker Anthony Martial

Anthony Martial is set to sign for Manchester United before the deadline

MANCHESTER UNITED have confirmed they have agreed a £36m deal with Monaco for 19-year-old striker Anthony Martial.

 

Martial was given permission to leave the France international senior squad by Didier Deschamps to fly to Manchester for a medical this morning.

And United sources have confirmed a fee of £36m has been agreed with add ons, based on appearances and trophies, taking the deal up towards the £50m mark.

It is an astonishing profit for Monaco who signed Martial for just £3.6m from Lyon two years ago.

Arsenal and Tottenham were also both chasing a player who has become United’s third most expensive signing after Angel Di Maria (£59.7m) and Juan Mata (£37.1m). Martial scored eight goals in 31 Ligue 1 appearances last season.

 

United insist it is not a panic buy in response to their low-scoring start to the Premier League season. 

They say manager Louis Van Gaal has been monitoring a player regarded as one of France’s most talented youngsters for months and it was Monaco’s failure to qualify for the Champions League group stages last week that triggered the deal.

But the deal left United fans wondering just who Martial is. In France he is described as the new Thierry Henry.

He has played for France at every age group and last week received his first call-up into the senior squad with Deschamps paying tribute to his exciting potential.

He said: "He plays centrally, but often drifts into wide positions, more on the left than the right. He's got a good combination of pace and power. He's a young player obviously, but he's got an interesting profile in an area where it's not easy to find players with both strength and speed.

 

"He's got good potential and I want to see how he does with the squad."

Martial first came to prominence when he scored 32 goals in just 21 games at youth level for Lyon before breaking into the first team in the 2012-13 season.

He made just three appearances before joining Monaco - when Claudio Ranieri was their manager - in the summer of 2013 for £3.6m - although Monaco are likely to have to pay Lyon a sell-on fee following the deal with United.

Martial scored two goals in 15 appearances in his first season at Monaco and 11 in 42 last season, when he impressed in their Champions League last 16 ties with Arsenal.