Anthony Martial: Man Utd set to sign Monaco forward for £36m

The striker, who has been linked with Arsenal, was allowed to leave the France squad on Monday for a medical with Louis van Gaal's side.

Should he sign, Martial, who scored eight goals in 31 Ligue 1 games last season. will become the costliest teenager in football history.

He will also become Manchester United's third most expensive signing.

The Red Devils paid £59.7m to Real Madrid for Argentina winger Angel Di Maria and £37.1m to Chelsea for Spain midfielder Juan Mata.

United have until 18:00 BST on Tuesday, when the transfer window shuts for Premier League clubs, to complete the deal.

A France Under-21 international who has just been called up to the senior national team for the first time.

The teenager scored 32 goals in just 21 games at youth level for Lyon before breaking into the first team in the 2012-13 season.

He made just three appearances before joining Monaco in the summer of 2013 for a reported £3.5m.

Martial scored two goals in 15 appearances in his first season at Monaco and 11 in 42 last season.

With nine goals, he is the top scorer among the under-20 players in Europe's top five leagues since last season.

In a July 2015 study by the Soccerex 20 Football Value Index  - which claimed Raheem Sterling was the most valuable young player in Europe - Martial was ranked the 17th most valuable under-21 player on the continent at £11.6m.

He's already caught the eye of France boss Didier Deschamps and clearly United think he's worth the money, but it's all about potential.

"He plays centrally, but often drifts into wide positions, more on the left than the right," said  Deschamps.

De Gea STAYS....

United had tried earlier in the summer to arrange a player-plus-cash exchange with Gareth Bale only to receive no encouragement from the Real president, Florentino Perez, and then switched their attention to Sergio Ramos, an episode that finished with the defender signing a new contract at the Bernabéu and being awarded the club captaincy.

Real’s delaying tactics caused intense irritation at Old Trafford and had looked like being successful, capitalising on the fact that United would otherwise have been left with an unhappy goalkeeper who would have been worth nothing to them next summer.

United, in turn, agreed to take on the 28-year-old Navas, even though there is a clear sense in Madrid that he is not ideally suited to English football. Navas joined Madrid in a £7m move from Levante last year and is regarded as a fine shot-stopper but vulnerable to crosses and, at 6ft, shorter than most of the goalkeepers in the Premier League. United’s thinking was swayed by Sergio Romero’s erratic form during the early weeks of the season but the proposed De Gea deal still represented a climbdown, having previously stated there was no way they would let Real dictate the process.

Januzaj’s move to Dortmund reflects how he has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford in the Van Gaal era and a chaotic day at Old Trafford also saw the back-up goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard follow the same route as Darren Fletcher and Jonny Evans to become the latest United player to join West Bromwich Albion.

SHAMBOLIC DISPLAY FROM BRENDAN RODGERS' SIDE

Liverpool's disappointing season ended in humiliation in the shape of a 6-1 hammering by Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. This won't have been the farewell Reds captain Steven Gerrard had envisaged to cap his 17-year spell at the club.

The English midfielder, who will ply his trade for MLS outfit LA Galaxy next season, was given a starting berth for his final appearance for the five-time European champions. However, despite getting on the scoresheet, Gerrard was unable to prevent a shellacking that compounded a miserable week for the club following reports that young star Raheem Sterling is agitating for a move away this summer.

Senegalese striker Mame Biram Diouf broke the deadlock after 22 minutes and then doubled the Potters' advantage barely six minutes later.Ireland international Jonathan Walters made it 3-0 on the half-hour mark, before ex-Liverpool man Charlie Adam ('41) and French midfielder Steven N'Zonzi ('45) added further gloss to the hosts' sparkling first-half performance.

Gerrard reduced the arrears with his last goal in a Liverpool shirt in the 70th minute, though it could hardly be called a consolation strike.Another former Anfield favourite, Peter Crouch, sealed the drubbing late on.

LOUIS VAN GAAL PUTS PRESSURE ON SPANISH GOALKEEPER

The Manchester United's Dutch manager,Louis van Gaal, spoke about David De Gea after the match against Hull City.

"It's time De Gea said something about his future. I can't say anything about it. It's time for him to say something", retorted Van Gaal when questioned about the future of the Spanish international.

24-year-old De Gea did not recover from the injury picked up last week against Arsenal in time to be able to play in United's last game of the season.

His compatriot Victor Valdés, who arrived at the club in January after leaving Barcelona, was in goal on Sunday for the 0-0 draw with Hull City at the KC Stadium.

"He's a very quick and explosive player. He's very good on the goal line. He spilled a ball in the first half and Hull scored, but he got lucky with the goal being disallowed for offside", said the Dutchman.

When asked about the future of Colombia's Radamel Falcao García, currently on loan at United from Monaco but with the loan period ending imminently, Van Gaal denied having already made a decision and said he had to speak to the player.

"There's still a day left. I'll speak to him tomorrow", the United manager confirmed regarding the ex-Atlético striker, who has only scored four goals in 26 appearances this season.

IN SEARCH OF MORE FIRST-TEAM FOOTBALL

Didier Drogba is leaving Chelsea at the end of this season, citing a desire to play more first-team football at another team.

"I want to play for at least one more season and in order to play more football I feel I need to go to another club", the Ivory Coast striker told the Londoners' website. Drogba did not mention where he will be playing next season.

A club statement read:"Everyone at Chelsea Football Club would like to thank Didier for his fantastic service and he is always welcome back to Stamford Bridge".

COLOMBIAN BACKS COACH TO STAY ON

Real Madrid drowned their sorrows in goals against Getafe on an anticlimactic final day for 'Los Blancos'. Nevertheless, one of the straws the fans are clutching at ahead of next season is James Rodríguez, who has proven that he is a player capable of great things.

The Colombian bagged Real's fifth goal in the meaningless rout with a free-kick worthy of any highlights reel, curling the ball perfectly around the wall and into the net. This was far from the first excellent set piece he has delivered this season, so the team have a fine alternative to Cristiano Ronaldo, who had himself netted from an earlier free-kick but has hardly set the world alight on this score in recent times.

James's strike took him level with Gareth Bale on 17 goals for the season and 13 in La Liga, although the Colombia international played two fewer league games and, unlike the Welshman, has been tasked with combining his attacking instincts with defensive duties.

The former Monaco, Porto and Banfield star took stock of the campaign after the match: "It's been a good season. We were close on every front, but luck didn't go our way much. We also had a lot of people out through injury between January and March, but we made mistakes that we have to learn from. Next year we'll do better".

The Colombian also spoke about Carlo Ancelotti, making it quite clear that he wants the Italian to stay: "It would be tough to take and a bit of a shock if the boss left. He's been here for two years and he knows what we're about and how we perform, but it's not my place to talk about it".