Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is heading for a new clash with club supremo Ed Woodward – this time over Anthony Martial.
United insiders claim the under-fire Portuguese is desperate to sell the French youngster before the end of the European transfer window to raise cash for a January splurge.
But Woodward disagrees, thinking the player has potential at just 22 and is refusing to sell him for other than top price.
And interested clubs such as Bayern Munich won’t want to pay much more that the £58m that brought him to Old Trafford from Monaco – meaning the Frenchman looks set to stay.
The Daily Star report that Mourinho is adamant Martial is not good enough and Woodward’s refusal to ship him on will create more tension.
Especially as Martial doesn’t seem to be a big part of the first team plans, being hauled off in the 3-2 loss against Brighton in a rare start.
The cracks between the began to appear on the summer tour in the USA, when Mourinho made clear his discontent with the perceived lack of support in the transfer window from executive vice-chairman Woodward.
He was angered over Woodward’s failure to deliver the five transfer targets he identified months earlier, and the weekend’s events at the Amex Stadium served to endorse his stance.
Mourinho has spent almost £400million over the past five windows and the board – led by Woodward – were reluctant to pay more inflated fees on players who were not a guaranteed upgrade on what they already have.
The cooling of the relationship between the two men, and the latter’s decision not to bend to his manager’s demands, represents a significant development at Old Trafford.
Woodward entered Manchester United’s dressing room alone after the 3-2 defeat by Brighton on Sunday afternoon – a match where Martial was taken off before the hour mark.
But the Red Devils chief executive didn’t hang about and wait for Mourinho to arrive for his post-match team talk, according to reports.
He instead was seen leaving by himself around five minutes later while typing out a message on his phone.
Mourinho was required to conduct flash interviews at the time, so was delayed getting back to the United dressing room, where the mood would have been very downbeat following a shocking performance and poor result.
Mourinho feels Woodward let him down in the summer by failing to land the likes of Harry Maguire, Ivan Perisic, Yerry Mina and Toby Alderweireld.
Woodward points to the fact he spent more than £70m on defensive duo Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof in the last two summers, only to see both of them struggle to make a serious impact.
Woodward also believes United have made a long term investment in Martial – and that agreeing to sell him now would come close to admitting the club made a huge mistake.
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