Manchester United forward Anthony Martial is under consideration by Borussia Dortmund as a potential replacement for Erling Haaland – who could leave the club in 2022.
Martial has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo late last month, and has failed to impress in a string of recent performances. Martial started at centre forward for Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup clash with West Ham, but made little impact as United lost 1-0.
The Frenchman is now entering his seventh season at Old Trafford, but has struggled for consistency and a regular position in the team over the last couple of seasons.
Dortmund, however, are considering replacements for Haaland, who is set to see a release clause activate in his contract next summer. Inevitably it will trigger interest from a host of Europe’s biggest clubs, United included, but they are already considering replacements given they won’t be in a position to turn down bids which activate the clause.
The Bundesliga side have a strong record of developing players and, as 90min understands, they believe they could kickstart Martial’s career upon arrival. United are happy to allow him to leave and could accept an offer equivalent to what they paid Monaco for him in 2015, so long as wages are covered.
Martial is one name on a list of potential targets which also includes Chelsea’s Timo Werner, though the financial package to take the German forward from Chelsea could prove too difficult to meet.
Paris Saint-Germain have also not turned down the possibility of offering Martial a route out of United, though they too have a plethora of options available to them. They explored a deal for Everton’s Richarlison in August, as Real Madrid pushed to sign long-term target Kylian Mbappe.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has refused to give anything away on Martial, and did not criticise his performance against West Ham on Wednesday night – instead preferring to speak of the team’s lack of cutting edge.
“I don’t think it’s right to go into individual performances. Anto was the same as the rest of the team,” remarked Solskjaer. “We lacked some of that cutting edge and he knows what we want from him. He’ll keep working and get his chances.”
