Manchester United attacker Anthony Martial is a man on a mission. Having seemingly lost the trust of José Mourinho last season, when the club brought in Alexis Sánchez from Arsenal on massive wages, the Frenchman is now on track to prove all his naysayers wrong and show his abilities on the big stage. He’s even convinced Mourinho to play him more and has rewarded that faith with six goals in his last five Premier League matches — including a brace against Chelsea.
But the major issue at hand, at least from United’s point of view, is the ongoing contractual stand-off. The club recently activated a clause to extend Martial’s current deal for a further year, through the end of next season to June 2020, but an actual new contract extension remains well out of reach.
SKYSPORTS Man Utd braced for Martial interest Manchester United are braced for January interest from Juventus and Chelsea in Anthony Martial, as talks over a new contract remain deadlocked, Sky Sports News understands. https://t.co/p2fYNqCpto
— Chelsea FC RSS Feeds (@CFCrss) November 20, 2018
According to Sky Sports, United are already preparing themselves for upcoming interest in the 22-year-old this January. Chelsea and Juventus are mentioned as the two clubs that could make a play, which seems pretty obvious as both were shown to have interest in Martial last summer. In Chelsea’s case, interest would depend on selling one of Willian or Pedro, as Eden Hazard would hopefully remain out of any such a scenario.
United remain hopeful of tying him up on a new long-term contract — a stance they have held since the last transfer window, going against Mourinho’s wishes — betting the odds-on outcome that Martial will only get better in the future. And that is why the prospect of having him sharing the pitch with Eden Hazard and Co. under Sarriball next season is one to savour.