Arsene Wenger has placed Manchester United winger Anthony Martial on his wish list should the Gunners lose out to Real Madrid for No1 target Kylian Mbappe.
Wenger is prepared to pay £40million for Martial, who fell out of favour at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho last season and started fewer than half of United's Premier League games.
The Arsenal manager fears that Mourinho would never agree to a deal because of the personal animosity between the two men.
Instead, the Gunners would ask for negotiations to be conducted above managerial level in the hope that United's board would regard it as financial folly to turn down big money for someone unlikely to be a regular starter.
Arsenal insiders say Wenger has become obsessed by the idea of signing 18-year-old Mbappe, believing he could have the same impact as Thierry Henry.
The figures of £100million and more being quoted mean a deal is difficult to pull off, particularly as Arsenal are not in the Champions League next season while Mbappe's other main suitors, Real Madrid, are the holders.
Though Mourinho is likely to be a major obstacle to Martial leaving, particularly to his fiercest foe, United are aware that another summer of heavy spending has to be offset in some way, and the Frenchman's first-team opportunities will become even more limited if Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic arrives in a £44million deal.
-DailyMail
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