Man Utd avoided huge transfer payment on player due to his poor form

Manchester United avoided paying a huge sum of money as part of Anthony Martial’s 2015 transfer from Monaco – thanks to the forward’s form.

The Frenchman joined United at the age of 19 for a fee of £36 million, that being the highest fee ever paid for a teenager at the time.

Manager Louis van Gaal described the size of the fee as ‘ridiculous’, but stated that Martial had been bought for not only himself, but for future United managers.

The forward memorably scored a superb solo goal on his debut against Liverpool, and netted 11 league goals in a promising first campaign at Old Trafford.

And after enduring two relatively lean years in comparison, Martial scored 10 goals in 27 league appearances in 2018/19, and then a career-best 17 goals in the 2019/20 campaign.

Since then, though, Martial has scored only 12 league goals for United in almost four years, with that time period also encapsulating an unsuccessful loan period at Sevilla.

His last two campaigns have been dogged by fitness issues, and he hasn’t played for Erik ten Hag’s side since December due to groin surgery.

His lack of goals effectively wiped clear a performance-related bonus that United may have owed to Monaco as part of his 2015 transfer.

Part of the deal saw United pay an extra £7.2 million, which was triggered when Martial hit his required target of 25 goals between 2015 and 2019.

But two of the other clauses have not been triggered.

A further £7.2 million will have to be paid out to Monaco if Martial received 25 caps for France. While he has picked up 30 caps for his country, the clause was also only linked to the four years after he joined United, by which time he had played only 18 times for Les Bleus.

And Monaco also inserted a ‘Ballon d’Or clause’ into the forward’s transfer to United, which would see Monaco be paid a further £7.2 million if Martial won the award by 2019.

Unfortunately for the Principality side, that clause wasn’t triggered either – meaning United avoided paying out £14.4 million for a player who was once the world’s most expensive teenager.