Remember when Anthony Martial arrived at Manchester United with a hefty pricetag and a series of add-on clauses?
Well we’re about to reach a significant one.
When the young Frenchman was signed by Louis van Gaal last summer for €50 million, it came with the knowledge that United would have to pay out a further €10 million when he scored 25 goals for the Red Devils.
On Wednesday night, in the 4-1 EFL Cup victory for United, Martial scored number 20 and 21 which means that he is just four goals away from forcing open the purse-strings for a significant payday for his former club Monaco.
And if he continues to shine the way he did against West Ham, that tally ought to be reached in just a matter of weeks.
One might joke that that could have been the reason that manager Jose Mourinho had been restricting Martial’s appearances in recent months but, in truth, he’ll consider the €10 million add-on well worth the trade-off of seeing the youngster back firing on all cylinders.
For those asking, here are the full add-ons possible to Monaco re Martial's move to MUFC, over and above the €50m transfer fee already paid. pic.twitter.com/un83ILsDbA
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) November 30, 2016
@SportingIntel on Twitter reminded everyone of the impending payday for Monaco, while also pointing out the other two major clauses in Martial’s transfer, the first of which will see United pay another €10 million once Martial makes his 25th appearance for the France national team (he’s currently on 15) and the second of which will see a third €10 million leave United’s coffers if and when Martial is nominated for a Ballon d’Or.
So all things considered, Martial is not that far off becoming an €80 million investment.
Michael Lundy joins Wooly for a wide-ranging discussion that starts with a chat about Ger Loughnane, dodgy transfers and Davy Fitzgerald’s training methods. Subscribe here on iTunes.
