Manchester United’s ridiculous deal to land 19-year old Anthony Martial has been leaked and it highlights the lack of care shown by Louis van Gaal.
Details have supposedly been leaked revealing the big money deal that brought a then-19-year-old Anthony Martial to Manchester United. While the initial deal was already a bit dizzying, as it was supposedly in the £38m pound range, it gets much worse than that. Let’s just say that the numbers are a bit shocking.
United had to pay £38m up front. That is where that number comes from. But if all of the clauses are met, then Martial is going to end up costing Manchester United over £60m.
One clause states that when Martial scores 25 league goals, United will owe Monaco a further £7.6m. Another states that when he makes 25 caps for France, they will be owed an additional £7.6m – another £7.6m will be added if he is nominated for a Ballon d’Or.
But it does not stop there. This is the gift that keeps on giving for Monaco. If Manchester United ever want to sell the lad and the fee is over £45m, Monaco will receive half of the transfer fee.
Sixty million euro for a teenager is a bit of a risky endeavor and these clauses will ensure that whatever success he may find is met with financial compensation. Monaco look like geniuses no matter what happens. If he tanks and never manages to amount to much, then they just made out with £38m for a 19-year-old. If he even remotely succeeds, scoring 25 goals and making 25 international appearances, they will have made £53m.
Money has never fazed Manchester United, as we see from Louis van Gaal’s spending sprees. However, the worrying part of this transfer is the fact that van Gaal did not even know what he was spending all this money on.
Both Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher, who know a thing or two about football, have criticized (via FourFourTwo) the highly-criticizable Dutch manager for his inconsistent usage of Martial. Van Gaal was playing Martial on the flanks when they were clearly so desperate for a forward.
Now that Wayne Rooney has seemingly found his form again, Martial may yet again be relegated to the wings. Nothing like a 20-year-old, £60m winger.
This move highlights what van Gaal’s transfer policy has done and why manchester United are in the status that they are in. Having to follow up Sir Alex Ferguson after David Moyes has already passed through is no easy feat, but van Gaal’s strategy has been spend first and ask questions later. Everyone will recall van Gaal dropping £60m on Angel Di Maria, only to sell him one year later for £15m less than he was purchased for. And now the Argentine is rocking it out at PSG.
We can also look at van Gaal’s prodigal son, Memphis Depay. £25 landed his services and now he cannot even hold a starting role at Manchester United. It is becoming ever-so-apparent that van Gaal’s transfer policy highlights his lack of homework. After all, dropping £3m more than Arsenal spent on Alexis Sanchez for a 19-year old boy-wonder has to raise some red flags, and they are not even the first red flags.
This policy is further highlighted by van Gaal’s treatment of Javier Hernandez. With Manchester United’s drought at striker, van Gaal essentially told the Mexican star to get lost. All this after Sir Alex Ferguson vouched for Chicharito on numerous occasions, with the returns from the young striker showing tremendous promise. However, he was dished to Bayer Leverkusen, where he has scored more goals than he knows what to do with.
Louis van Gaal is treating his job at United as if he were a small child in a sandbox. He has all the money he could ever want and he is just having a blast.