Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Monaco went back on their their word by selling teenage sensation Anthony Martial to Manchester United.
The Old Trafford club swooped with an eye-watering €49 million deal for the 19-year-old, stealing him from under the Gunners’ noses on the last day of the recent summer transfer window.
Wenger said that he had been tracking the prodigiously talented youngster for years and was keen on signing him.
However, he insists that Monaco slapped a ‘not for sale’ sign on Martial and that he was shocked to see him move to Manchester.
Now he is likely to line out for United against Arsenal in Sunday’s Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
"I was surprised they sold him," Wenger said.
"I thought they would maintain their word. He was not sellable. He was not on the list. 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 Lyon.
"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.”
