Martial weighs Russia move after rejecting £13m deal and multiple European offers

Anthony Martial is weighing up a move to the Russian Premier League after rejecting a series of offers across Europe and North Africa, with the former Manchester United forward yet to find a new club four months after leaving Liga MX side Monterrey.

According to L’Équipe, CSKA Moscow and Krasnodar are among the clubs in contact with the 30-year-old, alongside Spanish side Malaga and at least one other unnamed club in Spain. Martial has previous experience of Spanish football, having spent a loan spell at Sevilla while still under contract at Old Trafford.

Foot Mercato reports that Martial turned down a lucrative offer from Libyan Premier League club Al-Ittihad Tripoli — a package comprising a net salary of £8.6m over two years plus a £4.3m signing bonus — taking the total value of that rejected deal to roughly £13m. He also declined an approach from Auxerre, who are said to be the only French club to have made him a formal offer despite his representatives reportedly approaching several others.

Martial mutually terminated his contract with Monterrey in early June, having joined the Mexican club last summer after a season at AEK Athens — the club that first signed him following his United departure. He scored nine goals for the Greek champions but managed just one in Mexico before cutting short a two-year deal that carried an additional 12-month option.

Lorient sporting director Laurent Koscielny, who played alongside Martial 13 times for France, confirmed the club were offered the forward during the transfer window. “I think we received 400 to 450 player offers during the transfer window,” Koscielny told Ouest-France. “There were, for example, a lot of former internationals in the lot, including Anthony Martial.”

Martial has made just 53 appearances across the two seasons since leaving Old Trafford, and a move to Russia would represent a significant step into the unknown. Russian clubs are currently banned from UEFA competitions following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, meaning Martial would have no path to European football for the foreseeable future should he choose that route.

The Frenchman, who turns 31 in early December, was reportedly waiting until the current international break before making a decision on his next destination.