Manchester United are hopeful Anthony Martial will sign new five-year contract but no deal struck yet
Manchester United remain hopeful of tying Anthony Martial to a new five-year contract but have yet to reach an agreement with the France forward.
United are making progress in discussions with Martial and his agent, Philippe Lamboley, but talks are continuing and no deal has been struck yet.
Lamboley said last month that an agreement was “nowhere near” and that he was “very pessimistic about discussions going positively” after revealing that United had made several offers that were well short of the player’s demands.
United have already invoked an option to extend Martial’s existing contract by 12 months to the end of next season but they want the 23-year-old to commit his long-term future.
Jose Mourinho’s sacking last month has helped matters - the former manager wanted to sell Martial last summer only for his wish to be vetoed by the board - and the Frenchman has since been liberated under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But Alexis Sanchez’s £500,000 a week deal has led to players inflating their wage demands in negotiations. Goalkeeper David De Gea - who is also out of contract in June 2020 - is seeking a pay rise of at least £135,000 a week on his existing £240,000 a week salary.
There is uncertainty over the futures of a glut of players. Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Ashley Young are all out of contract in the summer but have been in discussions with the club over new deals.
Antonio Valencia, who seems likely to depart in the summer, Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian, Andreas Pereira and James Wilson are out of contract at the end of the season but the club have options to extend their deals by a further year.
