Arsenal are set to turn their attention to Manchester United attacker Anthony Martial if they fail to land Kylian Mbappe this summer, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper report that Arsene Wenger was lining up a bid worth £40million for the 21-year-old forward, who is currently out-of-favour with United chief Jose Mourinho.
Wenger, however, is not confident as to Arsenal’s chances of success in a potential deal for Martial, due to his hostile relationship with his Old Trafford counterpart.
Nevertheless, Arsenal will be looking to negotiate a deal above managerial level, in an attempt to persuade United chiefs into agreeing to part with a non-starter for a big-money sum.
But Martial remains only a contingency plan for the north London club, who are still determined to bring in their top summer transfer target, AS Monaco’s Mbappe, to the Emirates Stadium.
The Telegraph claim that Monaco are demanding at least a record £110million for the French sensation this summer, and that the club have already rejected a mega-money approach from Real Madrid.
It is the La Liga giants that will provide the biggest competition to Arsenal in the race to sign Mbappe, and although the Gunners have not yet given up hope of winning the race, have lined up an alternative option.
Martial made 42 appearances in all competitions for Manchester United during the 2016-17 campaign, scoring eight goals and supplying eight assists.
However, the 15-time France international started just 28 of those matches, having fallen down the pecking-order behind last summer’s signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Mkhitaryan.
But Martial could slip even further away from a first-team role ahead of the new season, with United looking to land Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic in a £44million deal.
Martial is under contract at Old Trafford until 2019.