Football transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Spanish side Sevilla have reached an agreement with Manchester United striker Anthony Martial over a loan transfer.
The Frenchman will play for Sevilla until the end of the season, and the club will be paying his full wages. No additional fee over the loan transfer is involved.
Martial had arrived from AS Monaco to Manchester United in 2015 and was the most expensive teenage signing in football history. He went on to score 79 times in 269 appearances for the Red Devils but fell out of favour and had been on the fringes of the squad for a long time now.
The transfers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho in the summer as well as the rise of Mason Greenwood through the ranks have relegated Martial to the bench. Both the club and the player had been looking for an exit solution prior to the winter transfer window and there were also speculations that he would leave the previous summer.
With the deal with Sevilla now completed, the 26-year-old will fly from Paris, where he is currently located, to Seville on Tuesday to undergo a medical and close the deal. Martial had also attracted interest from Juventus and Barcelona, but he wanted to join Sevilla in search of more game time.
The negotiations with the Spanish side took several weeks to complete as they were reluctant to cover Martial’s full 240,000 pounds-a week wage. Initially, they had offered to cover only half of that salary but the impasse finally reached a conclusion yesterday.
Martial has started just four games for Manchester United this season and was publicly accused by newly appointed interim manager Ralf Rangnick of withdrawing from the squad for the fixture against Aston Villa on January 15, which ended in a disappointing 2-2 draw. The French international went on to refute his manager’s claim on Instagram, and Rangnick later added that the situation had been resolved.
Also read 👉 Rangnick confirms Martial is set to leave Manchester United
He was then named as a substitute against Brentford and came off the bench in a crucial fixture against West Ham last Sunday. Although he was greeted with boos and jeers from the Old Trafford faithful, Martial played a key role and assisted Marcus Rashford’s 93rd-minute goal.
Sevilla are currently second in La Liga and are just four points behind Real Madrid at the top of the table. They are searching for their first Liga title since 1946.
