Arsenal will reportedly try to sign Anthony Martial from Manchester United if they are unable to land Kylian Mbappe this summer according to a report in the Daily Mail.

• Arsenal will go over Mourinho’s head to complete deal
• They are hopeful United will welcome the cash to offset Mourinho’s spending
• Martial is expected to be a bit-part player under Mourinho next season

Wenger is, the Mail report, prepared to pay £40m for a player who cost United £51m before Mourinho arrived and he fell out of favour.

Still only 21, Martial has the potential to be an immense player if utilised properly but it’s hard to see how this deal could happen. Remember, Mourinho is a man who wouldn’t even let Arsenal have Demba Ba on loan because they had Mesut Ozil. He’s hardly going to let them have a player who is significantly better.

The Mail believe that Arsenal will ask for transfer negotiations to take place above Mourinho’s head which certainly isn’t going to do anything to make the Moany One any more inclined to let the deal go through. Arsenal, they say, hope United will be unable to resist the money being offered for a player Mourinho doesn’t seem to want to use on a regular basis.

Arsenal are also hopeful that United will welcome the cash to offset the money Mourinho is expected to spend this summer.

Martial played in 42 games for United last season, 25 in the league. He started only 18 league games and completed just seven. He played the full 90 in 11 of his 42 games, averaging just under 60 minutes per game across all competitions. In that time, he scored eight and assisted the same number – a goal involvement rate of one every 157 minutes.