Gossip: Martial, Cavani, Moreno, Austin…

Editor F365

Man United beat Barcelona, PSG, Chelsea and Man City to Martial, Cavani to move for £45m in January, Real Madrid opted out of Moreno deal, Austin demands pay rise at QPR.

 

UNITED BEAT RIVALS TO MARTIAL
Manchester United paid a lot of money to sign Anthony Martial. The fee could rise to £57.6million, but that’s only if he turns out to be bloody good. The initial fee of £36million is still huge, of course. The Daily Mail think they have worked out why.

According to senior club sources, United beat some of Europe’s elite clubs to Martial, and paid a premium to do so. ‘Barcelona, Paris St Germain, Chelsea and City were all in on pre-contract for Martial next season,’ the source said. ‘We paid a premium to get him now. It is similar to what we did with Ronaldo – and that turned out OK.’

The source also added that “the player has been watched a number of times”, intimating that the 19-year-old was a long-term target as opposed to a sudden panic buy.

CAVANI TO MOVE IN JANUARY
So says the Daily Express. They claim PSG will ‘listen to offers’ for the Uruguayan striker in the next transfer window, after Arsenal, Manchester United and other potential suitors failed to sign him this summer.

They accredit ‘reports in Spain’, with a fee of around £45million supposedly wanted by the French champions. It’s all fine and dandy, but there is absolutely no sign of what these ‘reports in Spain’ actually are. It links to nothing, and we can’t find anything at all even slightly related.

Jolly good.

REAL OPTED OUT OF MORENO DEAL
Which is understandable, because he isn’t that good. Reports of Madrid’s interest in the left-back emerged on Tuesday, with a £12million fee mooted – the same fee for which he was signed.

Spanish newspaper AS are reporting that it was Real and Rafael Benitez himself who withdrew interest in the deal. Probably because, again, he isn’t that good.

AUSTIN TO DEMAND PAY RISE
Considering the sparsity of top strikers in the Premier League, Charlie Austin’s non-move this summer remains a mind-scratcher. With a year left on his current deal, the assumption is that the striker will score a hatful of goals in the Championship before sealing a big-money move next summer.

According to Get West London however, Austin is willing to renew his contract with the Rs. The catch? a) he wants a pay-rise from around £20,000-a-week to above £40,000, and b) he wants a buyout clause in the new deal.

In all honesty, both are fair demands. Austin bagged 18 in the Premier League last season, is the Championship’s current top scorer with four, and was valued at £15million last season. If QPR want a fee for their talisman next summer, they’ll bow to what he wants.