Man Utd could listen to offers for Anthony Martial & Donny van de Beek
Manchester United could listen to offers for striker Anthony Martial and midfielder Donny van de Beek ahead of next season, with both players thought to be available for the right price.
Neither Martial nor Van de Beek impressed during the 2020/21 campaign and United might consider the pair worth selling as the squad rebuild under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues.
Hopes were high for both players ahead of last season, which perhaps made it all the more disappointing when they failed to live up to expectations.
Despite scoring 23 goals in all competitions in what had been a milestone year in 2019/20, Martial failed to kick on as a ‘number nine’. Even before injury prematurely ended his season he had been poor, finding the net in only three Premier League games.
Edinson Cavani’s form in the second half of the season then ensured that Martial wasn’t even missed when he was ruled out from March onwards and the veteran Uruguayan is likely to start the new season as the club’s primary striker.
Van de Beek, meanwhile, was hailed when he completed a £40m transfer from Ajax, having been a key part of the Dutch club’s journey to the 2018/19 Champions League semi-finals and nominated for the 2019 Ballon d’Or as a result of his performances.
Van de Beek even scored on his United debut off the bench but seemingly failed to impress Solskjaer after that. He started only four Premier League games all season, with two of those coming in May alone, and look more and more devoid of confidence with every fleeting appearance.
ESPN writes that United don’t expect much in the way of departures from the core first-team squad, which Martial and Van de Beek would likely still be a part of despite back-up roles, but both have been the subject of enquiries from agents and intermediaries asking about availability.
It is said that United have responded to such requests by saying ‘every player has a realistic value’, which suggests the club would at least consider potential offers.
What those realistic values for Martial and Van de Beek might be is not clear, but selling either or both could have the added advantage of raising additional transfer funds.
The likes of Andreas Pereira and Diogo Dalot, who spent last season on loan at Lazio and AC Milan respectively, are not thought to be part of the ‘core’ group and will leave. However, it is said a decision is yet to be made on Jesse Lingard after he resurrected his career on loan at West Ham.
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