Anthony Martial: Man Utd set to sign Monaco forward for £36m

The 19-year-old, who has been linked with Arsenal, was allowed to leave the France squad on Monday to travel to Manchester for a medical with Louis van Gaal's side. Martial scored eight goals in 31 Ligue 1 appearances last season. Should he sign, Martial will become Manchester United's third most expensive signing. Midfielder Juan Mata joined from Chelsea for £37.1m in January 2014, while Angel Di Maria moved from Real Madrid for a British record £59.7m in August last year. France under-21 international Martial was called up to the senior national team for the first time on 28 August. Who is Anthony Martial? The teenager scored 32 goals in just 21 games at youth level for Lyon before breaking into the first team in the 2012-13 season. He made just three appearances before joining Monaco in the summer of 2013 for a reported £3.5m Martial scored two goals in 15 appearances in his first season at Monaco and 11 in 42 last season. With nine goals, he is the top scorer among the under-20 players in the European top five leagues since last season. "Anthony Martial asked France coach Didier Deschamps for permission to travel to England to sign a contract with Manchester United," a statement from the French Football Federation has confirmed. "He'll return on Tuesday morning." Martial started his career at Lyon, making his professional debut in December 2012, before joining Monaco in June 2013. This summer he agreed a one-year extension to his previous deal at Monaco, taking his contract up to 2019. After he signed the new deal, Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev said Martial was "untransferable", with Tottenham reported to have shown interest. 'Pace and power' On calling up Martial to the senior France squad, Deschamps said: "He plays centrally, but often drifts into wide positions, more on the left than the right. "He's got a good combination of pace and power. He's a young player obviously, but he's got an interesting profile in an area where it's not easy to find players with both strength and speed. "He's got good potential and I want to see how he does with the squad".

Source: BBC