Arsene Wenger: Why I didn't buy Anthony Martial from Monaco before Manchester United

Martial sealed a £36 million move from the Ligue 1 side to Old Trafford on transfer deadline day - which apparently came as a surprise to long-term admirer Wenger, who had tracked the youngster since his days at Lyon.

The 19-year-old forward has made a fine start to his United career - netting four goals in his first four games - and could play against the Gunners in the Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Wenger had been linked with a move for Martial and he has moved to explain the real reason why it was not Arsenal who signed him over the summer instead of United.

"I was surprised they sold him," Wenger told several national newspapers.

"The amount of money was massive. I believe that you could think that, if you are Monaco, you could have sold him as well next season.

"So I thought they would not sell him this year because they sold many other players.

"I thought they would maintain their word. He was not sellable. He was not on the list," he added.

"He was one of the players Monaco did not want to sell, so we never made an approach for him.

"Only an acceptable amount of money after could do it. We always liked him, even when he was in Lyons."

Wenger could be perceived as pretty naive the way he is talking about the process of signing a player. If he really wanted to sign Martial then he should not have relied upon Monaco "maintaining their word", as he suggests, but have forced their hand with a substantial offer - as United ended up doing. Just because Monaco apparently did not want to sell him doesn't mean that he should not have made an approach for the player regardless to try to tempt the club. He says "we always liked him" but that "we never made an approach for him" and that is not going to sit at all well with Arsenal fans, particularly if Martial punishes the club on Sunday and in their match-ups to come.