Despite not doing any business in the January transfer window so far, Manchester United have been in a frenzy of speculation surrounding the rumoured upset in the dressing room which has seen up to 17 players wanting to leave the club, and Ralf Rangnick could be set to get rid of his first player as Red Devils interim manager.
What’s the word?
According to today’s issue of Catalan newspaper Sport (via Sport Witness), Newcastle United have made an ‘important offer’ for an Anthony Martial, with the report suggesting that the Premier League club are not the only one interested in securing the signature of the striker.
Sevilla, Barcelona and Juventus have all been named alongside the Tyneside club in the race to sign Martial, with a suggestion that Newcastle have already offered just over €35m (£29.3m) for him.
However, the report added that Martial does not want the move to Eddie Howe’s side, nor does he want to go to Juventus, with claims that the Frenchman’s agent has ‘frozen all other offers on the table’ whilst they wait for a response from Barcelona. Only if that doesn’t materialise would they welcome another offer from Newcastle.
Fans will be buzzing
The news that a move away for Martial is on the cards, with a number of potential suitors rumoured to be involved in the chase for the player, is sure to leave many United fans buzzing as the club tries to get the 26-year-old out of the squad. That is due to his abysmal recent record.
The striker has scored only eight goals since the beginning of last season, with just one in the current campaign, meaning that he is failing to make an impact on the team and falling out of favour due to more prolific scorers joining the team, such as Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The France international was even labelled a “lightweight” by Simon Jordan, who claimed that “Martial will get you sacked” in a rant last year on talkSPORT.
According to SofaScore, when you look at the £180k-p/w forward’s performance in the 4-1 defeat to Watford in November, he had just 15 touches of the ball and lost possession with seven of those during his 45 minutes on the pitch. That puts into microcosm just how ineffective he has become in a United shirt, and why plenty of fans would be glad to see the back of him.
If the rumours are true that there is upset in the dressing room at Old Trafford, it will be important for Rangnick to use any opportunity to minimise that by axing fringe players who have vocalised that they want to leave, which Martial has done through his agent. Therefore, accepting an offer in January for the 26-year-old would seem a wise decision from the interim boss.
In other news: Rangnick could be heading for a nightmare over this Old Trafford star
