Arsene Wenger has claimed that Arsenal did not pursue the transfer of Anthony Martial – as Monaco said that he was not for sale.
The French international would subsequently complete a £36m deadline-day move to Manchester United, and has since gone onto score four goals in his first four games for the Red Devils, and is set to feature for Louis Van Gaal’s side at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
However, Arsene Wemger has added further fuel to a seemingly ever increasing fire, by claiming that Monaco told the North London club that the 19-year-old was not for sale, which forced Arsenal to back track over any deal.
Wenger speaks out about Martial’s United move
Speaking ahead of the visit of United, Wenger said: ‘The amount of money was massive. I believe that you could think that, if you are Monaco, you could have sold him as well next season.
‘So I thought they would not sell him this year because they sold many other players.
‘I thought they would maintain their word. He was not sellable. He was not on the list. He was one of the players Monaco did not want to sell, so we never made an approach for him.
‘Only an acceptable amount of money after could do it. We always liked him, even when he was in Lyons.’
