Yesterday was one of the strangest days of the transfer window so far. Harry Kane was unsure of his permission to travel to Munich to complete a deal with Bayern, before Jurgen Klopp appeared to confirm Liverpool’s capture of Moises Caicedo, who performed a dramatic U-turn to push through a move to Chelsea.
They pulled out of a deal for Tyler Adams after the American completed his medical and, in the midst of it all, one Manchester United star had his own mini-saga.
Anthony Martial was, as reported by The Peoples Person, linked with a move to Inter Milan in the early hours, but links to Turkey caused some chaos.
According to Turkish journalist Sercan Hamzaoglu, Fred’s move to Fenerbahce opened up a dialogue between the Super Lig heavyweights and Manchester United, during which Martial was offered by Erkan Sulejmani, who represents Martial.
Hamzaoglu claimed that United were willing to let the Frenchman leave on a free transfer and that Fenerbahce would need to pay the player a €4m signing bonus along with an annual salary of €5m.
The Turkish side were said to be concerned with Martial’s injury record at that price point and were hesitant to do a deal. Their priority attacking signing remained Cenig Under of Marseille, meaning they would revisit Martial should that deal fall through.
🔥 HABER GLOBAL ÖZEL
⭐️ Manchester United’ın Fransız yıldızı ANTHONY MARTİAL, Fenerbahçe’ye önerildi.
📌 Oyuncunun transferi için yetkili Erkan Sulejmani, bonservisi ücretsiz alabileceklerini kulübe iletti.
💶 Martial’in Fenerbahçe’den beklentisi 5 milyon Euro maaştan 3…
— Sercan Hamzaoğlu (@sercanhamzaolu) August 11, 2023
Sulejmani works under the umbrella of USFA Management, who were quick to quash the report. On their Instagram page (via Metro), they posted a screenshot of Hamzaoglu’s tweet along with the word ‘FAKE’.
Hamzaoglu responded. The journalist insisted that, “The Martial news we made is absolutely true,” and that he was in possession of “correspondence” to prove as much.
Yaptığımız Martial haberi kesinlikle doğru.
Martial’i temsil etmek için yetki belgesi olan Erkan Sulejmani, oyuncuyu net bir şekilde Fenerbahçe’ye önerdi, şartları da iletti.
Fenerbahçe önceliğin Cengiz olduğunu, bu transfer olmaza değerlendirmeye alınabileceğini belirtti.…
— Sercan Hamzaoğlu (@sercanhamzaolu) August 11, 2023
Whether it was or was not true is of little consequence now, however.
As confirmed by Fabrizio Romano, Fenerbahce have agreed a deal to sign Cenig Under from Marseille, meaning they have the attacking reinforcement they were looking for.
Cengiz Ünder to Fenerbahçe, here we go! Agreement reached with OM on a permanent transfer — deal now being completed 🚨🟡🔵 #Fener #OM
Ünder, prepared to travel for medical tests soon. Follows Fred as new signing for Fener. pic.twitter.com/dyig7zK8eX
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 11, 2023
Anthony Martial hold no interest to them now – if he ever indeed had done. The Red Devils will have to settle for only offloading one player to Fenerbahce, with Fred traveling to Istanbul today to complete his medical.
As for Anthony Martial, a lack of firm interest may well see him stay at the club this season, with his contract expiring next June.