Krishnan Sreekumar
Transfer News: Manchester United outcast Anthony Martial offered Borussia Dortmund escape route
According to 90Min (h/t Express), Borussia Dortmund are eyeing a move for Manchester United ace Anthony Martial at the end of the season, with the Frenchman offered an escape route from the English side after seeing his game time severely reduced.
Having fallen behind in the pecking order at the club in attack, Martial secured a loan move to Sevilla in the winter transfer window in an attempt to play more first team football. However, the player is expected back in England in the summer, and there are no guarantees that he will remain in Manchester beyond the current campaign.
Dortmund, meanwhile, are looking to reinforce their squad with attacking talent and have eyed the Premier League as a potential shopping centre, as they have eyed Martial as well as Chelsea ace Timo Werner, who used to play in the Bundesliga for RB Leipzig.
Like Martial, Werner has been unable to establish himself in the first team at Stamford Bridge, despite having been with the side since 2020. Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz seem to be preferred in an attacking role over the German, which has often seen him relegated to the bench.
Dortmund reinvesting sale proceeds
With star striker Erling Haaland expected to move for big money in the summer, Dortmund are planning to reinvest the proceedings from his sale in a move for strikers based in England, with Martial one of the options they are monitoring.
The France international has not had a successful time in Spain as yet, and for that reason, it seems unlikely he will earn a permanent switch to the La Liga side at the end of the season. Given this, the Bundesliga club could entice Martial with a permanent move to Germany, offering him a chance at regular first-team football as well.
Once regarded to be a future superstar at Old Trafford, Martial has failed to live up to expectations ever since his blistering start to life in the Premier League, scoring on his debut against arch-rivals Liverpool to condemn them to a 3-1 loss at the Theatre of Dreams.
The 26-year-old went from being a relative unknown at AS Monaco to a household name in his first season at United, finding the back of the net regularly and proving his credentials as an exciting teenage footballer.
However, the striker has never proven to be consistent or reliable enough to keep up his scoring form, with the forward often firing blanks in front of the goal. The pressure on a Red Devils player is immense, especially when it comes to goalscoring, and Martial seems to never have held up the weight of that responsibility apart from perhaps the 2019/20 season, where he gave the fans a lot of hope that he could well be their main man up front for the near future.
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With the World Cup in Qatar taking place later this year, Martial would be keen on making it to the squad for the French national team. To achieve this, regular football is needed to impress Didier Deschamps, and perhaps Dortmund can provide him with that platform in the event that Haaland is sold and they need a new striker to lead the line for them.
It remains to be seen what stance the club takes regarding this potential move.
