Tottenham are ready to make Anthony Martial one of their main targets this summer, according to reports.
The 22-year-old’s well-documented struggles under Jose Mourinho have seen him start just 18 league games this season, with the Portuguese publicly criticising him on more than one occasion.
Didier Deschamps has now left him out of France’s squad for the World Cup, further raising the question of whether he will need to leave Manchester United in the coming months if his career is to progress.
As per the London Evening Standard, Mauricio Pochettino is keen to bring in a forward who can ease the burden on Harry Kane, yet one who does not operate as an out-and-out striker like Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente. Against some of the Premier League’s bottom-half teams, Spurs have sometimes looked lacking in width and so an attacker possessing Martial’s pace and versatility could be a game-changer.
As far as man-management goes, there is an argument that Pochettino is the complete antithesis of Mourinho. In the midst of what has been a visibly unhappy campaign for Martial, he has still scored 11 goals and chipped in with seven assists in all competitions.
Daniel Levy has been reluctant to do business with the Red Devils since the Dimitar Berbatov transfer of 2008, when Sir Alex Ferguson quite literally hijacked the Bulgarian’s move to Manchester City by picking him up from the airport.
However, this is one of the first times there could be something in it for the north Londoners. With Michael Carrick making the switch in 2006 and Berbatov following in his footsteps two years later, there was a time when Spurs felt they were being cherry-picked by United.
This summer, if Ed Woodward is to be found sniffing around Toby Alderweireld, it will be different. Both the centre-back and Martial are valued by their respective clubs at around £40million and in order to keep Pochettino happy, Levy needs to ensure that if a key player departs, the squad is subsequently strengthened. The club are keen to avoid a repeat of last summer’s situation which saw Kyle Walker join Manchester City and his replacement, Serge Aurier, fail to impress.
Coincidentally, Mourinho must be weighing up his options at centre-back. Victor Lindelof has had an error-prone first season, while there are doubts about the success of a partnership between Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. Both Marcos Rojo and Eric Bailly have suffered relatively long-term injuries in the last year or so, leaving United short.
Tottenham remain locked in a stalemate with Alderweireld, who despite being left out by Pochettino in the latter stages of the season, is still widely regarded as one of the best defenders in Europe. A new deal is yet to materialise as the Belgian quibbles over wages, and if he is still at the club in 2019, a release clause will be activated allowing him to leave for just £25million.
Last August, they broke their transfer record to sign Davinson Sanchez, which raised eyebrows at the time given the solidity of Jan Vertonghen and Alderweireld’s partnership. It now looks a shrewd decision, though, as the Colombian has excelled and Spurs are now far better equipped to deal with Alderweireld’s potential exit.
If the reality is that he is likely to move on regardless, the best Tottenham can do is ensure they act as any top club would and exploit the situation to their advantage.
