Manchester United to consider Alderweireld-Martial swap deal with Tottenham Hotspur

Bengaluru, June 9: Manchester United are considering are a potential swap deal involving Anthony Martial to land in their priority defender Toby Alderweireld from Tottenham Hotspur. While Alderweireld hasn’t responded to any speculations about a move away from London, Martial is most likely to leave the club in the summer.

The Frenchman saw limited opportunities under Jose Mourinho this season and with the arrival of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, they reduced drastically. However, instead of inducing any plans to get him back in the team, United have already signed Fred and Diogo Dalot, that see no place for Martial in the squad. Thus, a move away is the only option left for Martial.

[Evening Standard] #thfc want to back Pochettino and sign Anthony Martial this summer with the player considering his future. pic.twitter.com/4hvcRHk7PS

— Hotspur Lane (@HotspurLane) June 7, 2018

United might seek this opportunity as a means to land in one of their summer priority in Alderweireld. Martial is reportedly open to any move that guarantees him playing time. While United were initially adamant on not selling Martial to a direct Premier League competition, they might just change their policy for a bargain on Alderweireld.

Jose Mourinho has already seen a couple of bids rejected for the Belgian defender as Tottenham had demanded a fee of £55million, which could go in excess of that with bonuses. United were not willing to offer such a huge sum though and tried to negotiate a reasonable deal. The London club are understood to be happy to offload Alderweireld after he opted against signing a new contract at the club. Under his current contract, the 29-year-old will activate a £25m release clause if he remains at the club next summer.

Alderweireld only managed 13 Premier League starts for Spurs last season in an injury-plagued campaign. On the other hand, Martial could make 18 starts for the Red Devils and had a decent record with nine goals and five assists. He was linked with a move to Juventus recently, but the urge to sign Alderweireld could see Martial become a Spurs player next season.

Martial was also shockingly dropped by Didier Deschamps from the France squad representing the country in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.