Monaco Vice President: Club Sold Anthony Martial to Meet FFP Obligations
AS Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev has revealed that Anthony Martial's move to Manchester United in 2015 was largely influenced by the club's need to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.
Speaking to L'Equipe, Vasilyev suggested that the club had no desire to sell Martial but felt his hands were tied as he couldn't refuse United's colossal offer for the player.
He said: "In 2015 we had to sell in order to meet FFP conditions, so it was more of an obligation (to sell Martial). We are, currently, financially safe and sound. You sell when you think it’s the right time. You’ve got to accept the risk (to then sell someone at a lower price the next time around) and it’s by taking risks that we have got here."
Vasilyev also spoke about the player exodus over the summer with Kylian Mbappe, Bernado Silva, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy all leaving the club.
Vasilyev said: "Bernardo Silva and [Tiemoue] Bakayoko, it was done [their moves to City and Chelsea]. The third possible exit was Mendy which we had long resisted.
"And then, given the offers we had for him and his willingness to leave, we wondered if he would be able to repeat the same season. It was complex.
"At first, I said, ‘No, you're staying. He replied, ‘But Vadim, I really want to go to City with [Pep] Guardiola.’
"Several times he said to me, ‘If it was Chelsea, I would stay, but this is Guardiola, I want to go there.’
"He was frank with me. So when City put that price, when it became the most expensive defender in the world, I had no more arguments to oppose it. We weighed the pros and cons and we told him."
