Anthony Martial’s mega-money move to Manchester United dominated the headlines on deadline day, and a recent study has suggested the Red Devils paid an incredible three times above his market value.
United coughed up an initial £36m for the 19-year-old, but the fee could rise to as much as £58m including bonuses and add-ons.
The Mirror reports that an independent transfer review carried out by Soccerex and Prime Time Sports has revealed Martial’s true market value to be £11.6m – well below what United paid to AS Monaco for the deal.
Prime Time Sports chief executive Esteve Calzada said United well and truly overpaid for the France international.
“The week before [United signed Martial] there were rumours Barcelona would take him [Martial] for £14.6m,” Calzada is quoted as saying by The Mirror.
“We made a list of the value of the top players in Europe under 21, and Martial was on the list.
“We valued him based on statistics and we valued him at 16m Euros [£11.6m]. That means one of two things – either we made a very bad valuation or, on the other side, the market has gone crazy.”
Calzada conceded that while it seems United overpaid now, time will tell if the Red Devils had spent their money wisely.
“On paper I would say it’s a very expensive signing for a very young player but, over time, we will see whether or not it is a good buy because we have seen 650m Euros spent on players who were not successful [in recent seasons],” he said.
“With Real Madrid, everyone was shocked with what they paid for Ronaldo [£80m], but I think if you asked every fan now, they would say it was cheap.”
Martial is expected to be thrown straight into the deep end against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Saturday.
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