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.

THIRD TITLE IN ROW FOR PSG

Paris St Germain clinched a third successive Ligue 1 title, with a game to spare, and stayed on course for an unprecedented domestic treble with a 2-1 win at Montpellier on Saturday.
The Qatari-owned club needed only a point but ended the night eight points clear of their closest rivals Olympique Lyonnais who were held to a 1-1 home draw by Girondins Bordeaux.

The title kept Laurent Blanc's side on course for a sweep of domestic honours, with the Parisians already winners of the League Cup and facing second tier AJ Auxerre in the French Cup final at the end of the month.Monaco stayed third on 68 points, four adrift of Lyon, after beating Metz 2-0 in the principality while Olympique Marseille and St Etienne also won to stay tied on 66 in the battle for a place in next season's Champions League preliminary round.

Evian Thonon Gaillard joined Racing Lens and Metz in being relegated after losing 2-1 to St Etienne.

"I love watching the scenes of joy, whether on the field or in the locker room," said a delighted Blanc. "The players on the field earn the titles, we play a small part.

"We must let the players express themselves and the coach must always be behind them. It's not up to him to be at the front of the stage."

Midfielder Blaise Matuidi put PSG ahead in the 17th minute, slotting past goalkeeper Jonathan Ligali after a defence-splitting pass from Adrien Rabiot.

Ezequiel Lavezzi made it 2-0 in the 25th minute, from a cross by Serge Aurier, his eighth league goal of the season but Montpellier pulled one back five minutes before the break through Anthony Mounier's shot into the top corner.The win was the eighth in a row in the league for PSG who claimed their fifth French title.

The match, watched by a 27,930 crowd at the Stade de la Mosson, ended with flares lit in the stands and thrown on to the edge of the pitch with stewards stamping out the flames.

"I still enjoy doing this job," said Blanc. "I have to thank my staff because without his staff a coach is nothing at all."

21 EUROPEAN CUPS IN THE SEMIS

The draw for the Champions League semi-finals will take place on Friday and four historic teams will be in the pot:Barcelona,Bayern,Juventus and Real Madrid.

21 European Cups are spread over the four European giants' trophy cabinets. 'Los Blancos' lead the way with ten, the German champions have five, 'Los Azulgranas' are on four and 'La Vecchia Signora' sits at the bottom of the pile on two.

A GREAT DEFENSIVE DISPLAY SEALS SEMI-FINAL PLACE

Juventus got back to their roots and returned to their rightful place at the top of European football.

The Serie A giants closed ranks in Monaco, turning to ultra-defensive tactics which worked to perfection. Just like during their glory years, Juve showed reliability and resilience against a lacklustre Monaco side that failed to turn the tie around. It was a true Italian performance which allows them to continue dreaming of a Champions League crown.

Allegri fielded a three-man defence reminiscent of the 'Conte era', something he has rarely done this season, but his plan could not have gone any better. A goalless draw with no clear-cut chances for either side.

The Italians stuck to the job at hand and their place in the semis never looked under threat. Nobody is going to want the 'Vecchia Signora' in the semi-final draw now.

ITALIAN SAYS THE MEXICAN KNOWS HE IS IMPORTANT

Thrilled at qualifying for the Champions League semi-finals, Ancelotti said, "we had a great game, our tactics were spot on and that's how we'll continue until the final".

The Real Madrid boss told Canal+ TV that "following Modric's injury, we decided to play Ramos in midfield".

On match hero, Mexico's Chicharito, he said: "he understands that he is important to the team and he should be congratulated, because he's had a tough year. He hasn't played much".

When asked about the opposition, Ancelotti said: "we played against a tough team, I have a lot of respect for the opposition, they work really hard in defence".

Ahead of Friday's semi-final draw, Ancelotti said: "whatever happens in the draw, we have to win if we want to be in the final".

ATLETI BOSS PROUD OF PLAYERS

Atlético de Madrid coach Diego Simeone congratulated his team despite falling at the quarter-final hurdle of the Champions League and stated that the defeat left "no negative feelings".

"I'm proud of my team for competing as we did. I have a team of men", he declared in a post-match press conference that lasted barely three minutes.

Simeone praised his players: "They showed me that you have to compete in the game. If you give it your all, you go home happy. I have no negative feelings. There are coaches who are envious of me for having these players".

BARÇA HAVE BECOME LAST-4 STALWARTS

Barcelona are back in the semi-finals of the Champions League, having been knocked out in the quarters last season by Atlético de Madrid.

This is the eighth time the Catalans have got to the semis in the last ten years, which only goes to illustrate the club's might on the European stage. They have won the tournament on three occasions in that period - in 2006 (in Paris), 2009 (in Rome) and 2011 (in London) - and are now looking in fine fettle to lift 'Ol' Big Ears' again in Berlin.

Going into last season's competition, Barça had been riding a streak of six straight semi-finals appearances. However, Atlético brought the run to an end thanks to a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou and a 1-0 victory at the Calderón, secured through Koke's early effort.

Now, after disposing of Paris Saint-Germain home and away, the 'Azulgranas' are returning to what seems to have become their natural habitat. This makes it seven semi-finals in eight years.

Besides Atlético, Liverpool are the only side who have prevented Barça from reaching the last four over the past decade, back in 2007, when the Reds prevailed at the last-16 stage.

PSG AHEAD IN LIGUE 1 AFTER WIN AGAINST MARSEILLE

The Parisian team, set to face Barcelona in the Champions League, held their own despite the valiant efforts of the Marcelo Bielsa side.

PSG had to wait until the start of the second half to tip the balance of the game in their favour. Prior to that, two goals from Andre-Pierre Gignac, the first half an hour in and the second two minutes before the break, put the pressure on the champions, kept afloat by a goal from Blaise Matuidi in the 35th minute.

The shift of power came early on in the second half, after just two minutes. Marquinhos picked up the ball inside the area from a free kick and put it away, while Jeremy Morel scored an own goal just two minutes later, handing the advantage to the visitors - which they maintained to the final whistle to secure the win.