Things sure haven’t looked very promising lately in Tottenham Hotspur’s ongoing quest to purchase Manchester United’s Anthony Martial. But might things be set for a change? Today, ESPN is reporting that Martial is set to meet with manager Jose Mourinho and vice-chairman Ed Woodward about his Manchester United future, as Tottenham waits in the wings.
There have been numerous reports that say Martial wants out at United, with Tottenham as his preferred destination. That’s all well and good, but United doesn’t seem too keen to sell, even as they apparently were strongly interested in taking Toby Alderweireld earlier in the summer. There’s even talk that they could activate a one-year extension to Martial’s contract (like what Spurs did with Erik Lamela last season) so that they could demand more money for him.
United don’t want to sell to Spurs because they don’t want to strengthen a rival for the Premier League title, and there are now reports that Bayern Munich (and Chelsea, lol) might be interested in the French winger as well. The same article suggests that if they DO sell Martial, they would consider bringing in a new winger such as Ivan Perisic or Chelsea’s Willian.
Still, this smacks a bit like negotiating in the press, and if Martial decides to raise a stink about forcing a transfer I still think there’s an outside chance that Spurs will get their man, if they’re still interested. I don’t know if it’s likely, but I don’t think this story is anywhere close to being over.