MY ACCOUNT
Juventus have ruled out a move for Manchester United’s Anthony Martial after being boggled by the cost of a deal to bring in the Frenchman.
Club chief executive Maurizio Arrivabene said the expense that would be involved in recruiting the forward meant it was a non-starter.
Martial was absent from United’s squad for Saturday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa, which interim manager Ralf Rangnick explained was down to the player not wanting to be included.
However, the 26-year-old denied that was the case, and he and Rangnick appear to have resolved their issues.
Ex-Monaco man Martial has scored 79 goals since his United debut in September 2015 – only Marcus Rashford (91) has scored more for the club in that period.
But he has played just 358 minutes in the first team this season, scoring only once, and a January exit may make sense for all parties. Martial is contracted to United until 2024.
Juventus have been linked with him, but Arrivabene told Sport Mediaset: “Absolutely not at those figures. We don’t wait for them to come down, we don’t wait at all. We don’t talk about it.”
Of more pressing concern may be the soon-to-expire contract of star Argentine forward Paulo Dybala, but Juventus appear relaxed about that matter, happy to wait until next month to address it.
“I said we would talk about it in February,” Arrivabene said. “There is not only Dybala, but also [Juan] Cuadrado, [Mattia] Perin, [Federico] Bernardeschi who is a European champion and [Mattia] De Sciglio.”
Juventus are confident such players will not be chasing pre-contract deals with other clubs in the meantime.
“We have excellent relations with the players,” Arrivabene said. “They are very close to Juve. We talked and made an appointment for February. We will calmly do what we have to do.”
