Manchester United have an opportunity to ditch Anthony Martial in a potential swap deal for Inter Milan left-back Federico Dimarco. The French forward’s contract is up at Old Trafford at the end of the season and the upcoming January transfer window represents the last opportunity to get a return on the Red Devils’ investment.
United will not be triggering the one-year extension in Martial’s contract as he has failed to win over Erik ten Hag and was heading towards a free transfer at the end of the campaign. However, Inter Milan have reportedly offered the 28-year-old an exit route that may benefit all parties in January.
Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Inter see Martial as the best replacement for Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram. They have put their attractions on United’s declining player and he can be secured on a flexible transfer, a possible trade deal could be seen The Red Devils get one of his goals in return.
TEAMTalk claims United are keen to bring Inter left-back Dimarco to Old Trafford following Luke Shaw’s injury problems. Ten Hag has compiled a list of goals, including the Italian, that inspired his team’s run to the Champions League final. last season.
Click here to sign up for our WhatsApp network and be the first to receive the latest and exclusive news from Man Utd.
SOLO AT Man as Utd Garnacho shines in Ratcliffe’s audition but remains in Villa’s win [REPORT]
Inter were unable to reach a new deal with Dimarco and have since demanded a £50m fine from their star defender. United have yet to comply with Financial Fair Play rules despite the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the injection of money, raising fears that they will not be able to reach an agreement for Dimarco.
However, knowing Inter’s interest in Martial, it is possible that they will reach a transfer deal that reduces some of Dimarco’s payment while also extracting some price from their disgraced striker in the process.
Don’t miss. . . 300 Man Utd jobs ‘at risk’ as Sir Jim Ratcliffe predicts first abrupt move [REACTION] Sir Jim Ratcliffe sends warning to Man Utd in leaked personal letter [LAT] Man Utd and Chelsea are in a position to ‘activate’ a £52m release clause [TRANSFERS]
United will most likely want to sign another striker to make up for Martial’s departure, but reports have claimed that is one of their January targets, regardless of when Martial leaves Old Trafford.
A minor factor would be the muscle strain Dimarco contracted during Inter’s Coppa Italia defeat to Bologna. He is said to be aiming to return to action in January, but any setbacks could derail his plans to make a quick impact in the next month if he is involved in a transfer deal with Martial.
But United were prepared to sign Hojlund in July for £72m, even though he arrived with a back injury that kept him out of the Red Devils’ opening three games of the season. They may be willing to make a similar exception for Dimarco, if a swap deal can be reached with Inter.
RESEARCH
CONNECT WITH US
DOCUMENT OF THE DAY
Check out today’s and previous pages, download the newspaper, order back issues, and use the old archives of the Daily Express newspaper.
EXPRESS.CO.UK