Manchester United raised a lot of eyebrows when it emerged that they were on the verge of signing AS Monaco forward Anthony Martial.
The first surprise was the fact that the club were opting to target somewhat of an unknown quantity for the majority of Premier League fans rather than a big name player, but then the focus quickly shifted to the reported fee.
Everywhere from £36m to £58m was reported as the fee, and the internet nearly melted from the heat of the backlash as it because clear that Martial would become the World's most expensive teenager. Many crap memes and "troll" football jokes were made in 'Paint' and put on twitter with the fee set at €80m, but it has since transpired that the actual fee they paid is much closer to €50m.
It only became clear today as the deal was officially confirmed that the initial fee is £36m, which can rise to £58m.
Very much looks like Martial fee is £36.3m rising to £58.8m.Can't quite fathom that personally but too many reliable sources saying it #mufc
— James Ducker (@DuckerTheTimes) September 1, 2015
And French radio station RMC have also claimed to have discovered the circumstances that would trigger the add-ons, and it actually makes quite exciting reading for Manchester United fans:
French media outlets seem to be adamant that Martial fee is €60M + €20M incentives (winning Ballon d'Or, being PL scorer, and so on).
— Sergi Domínguez (@FutbolSergi) September 1, 2015
The RMC broadcast actually stated that it was €5m each time he is league top scorer up to 3 times, €5 if he wins Golden Boy (award for best young player in Europe), €10m if he wins Balon D'or.
So the only way that Manchester United will part with €80m, is if Anthony Martial goes on to become a multiple Premier League top scorer, and Ballon D'Or winner, in which case the fee would actually represent a bargain.
£36m is still a vast amount of money to splash on a 19 year old with the goal-scoring record that Martial has, but clearly the club see something in him, so it will be interesting to see how he performs with the weight and expectation of such a high free on his shoulders.
