Man Utd make surprise Martial U-turn as Romano claims Ten Hag is ‘kind of lying’ about transfers

Manchester United will not take up their option to extend Anthony Martial’s contract at the end of the season, according to reports.

The Red Devils have been struggling for goals this season with Erik ten Hag’s side hitting the back of the net just 18 times in 16 Premier League matches.

Summer signing Rasmus Hojlund has yet to get off the mark in the Premier League despite his exploits in the Champions League, while last season’s top goalscorer, Marcus Rashford, only has two goals to his name.

Martial, who has had a turbulent time at Man Utd, has also scored just two goals in all competitions after spending the second half of last campaign out on loan at La Liga side Sevilla.

A recent report claimed Man Utd were ready to activate the Frenchman’s one-year contract extension in order to sell him in the summer – but now The Athletic‘s David Ornstein insists that the Red Devils ‘do not intend to activate the option’ at the end of the season.

The Man Utd board are now ‘expected to let the 28-year-old forward leave as a free agent next summer — unless suitable offers from suitors arrive in January’.

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With their lack of goals this season, Ornstein adds that offloading Martial would ‘create a squad place and salary space to potentially strengthen their attack’.

And transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists Ten Hag is not being completely honest about potential Man Utd transfer business with fans told to expect up to two potential incomings.

Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “It was another disappointing weekend for Manchester United – you simply can’t lose 3-0 to Bournemouth at Old Trafford, especially after just beating Chelsea, so it’s a really strange moment at Manchester United.

“But, I want to clarify something about the transfer market, because we heard in recent weeks, directly from Erik ten Hag as well, that he doesn’t expect them to do anything in the January transfer window.

“What I can say is that this is kind of ‘lying’ – I don’t mean that in a negative way, it’s normal. There will also be some changes at the club with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a new board, so that’s probably why Ten Hag doesn’t want to talk too much about transfers now, but the scouting department have already discussed some names for the January window.

“Some names discussed have been strikers, such as Timo Werner, Serhou Guirassy, Donyell Malen – these have all been discussed internally, as well as a new centre-back, depending on when Lisandro Martinez will come back from his injury. Still, the feeling overall is that United will do something this January.”