Arsene Wenger: How Arsenal lost Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin to Man Utd

Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin were both missed targets by Arsenal

ARSENE WENGER has claimed Manchester United beat Arsenal to signing Anthony Martial with 'special money'.

 

The former Monaco striker is known to have been on Wenger's radar for some time, however the 19-year-old was snapped up by United this summer.

The £36million paid by the Red Devils made him the most expensive teenage signing ever, and the fee could rise to £58m with add-ons.

And the Frenchman has already begn to justify his hefty price tag, netting four times for the club in nine appearances.

However, Wenger has claimed Monaco had labelled Martial 'not sellable' over the summer and were only lured into a sale by United's 'special money' offer.

"Anthony Martial was not sellable. He was one of the players Monaco didn't want to sell so we never made any approach for him," he said.

"They [Man Utd] managed to do it because they offered special money. Is he overpriced? the future will tell us that."

Arsene Wenger says Man Utd offered 'special money' to sign Anthony Martial

And the Arsenal boss was also quizzed over why he missed out on another of his summer targets to United - Morgan Schneiderlin.

"Again I had information on this case that I am not in a position to tell you," he added.

The Gunners play host to the league leaders this Sunday (4.00pm) and will be looking to put right their dismal 3-2 defeat to Olympiakos in the Champions League in midweek.