450 names in an inbox, and one of them was a France international
That is the figure Laurent Koscielny put on Lorient’s summer. “I think we received 400 to 450 player proposals during the transfer window,” the sporting director told Ouest-France on Wednesday. “There were quite a few former internationals in there, including Anthony Martial, yes.”
So the approach happened. It just did not get far.
Koscielny explained the filter without much ceremony. “Some players who had played for big clubs, others who were younger. We had to try to sort through it efficiently, but on our side we had clear ideas about the profiles we were looking for.” Martial did not fit one of them.
The two played together for France, which makes the shrug a little more pointed.
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Martial has had no club since his Rayados de Monterrey contract was terminated in June. He turned 30 this year. The search is no longer for the right project so much as for a project at all.
France looked like the obvious route back. Foot Mercato report he already turned down two Ligue 1 approaches, one from a side in the top half, one from a club scrapping at the bottom. Lorient joins that list with an asterisk, because the Bretons never put anything on the table in the first place.
Malaga, and what that says
Spain is where this appears to be heading. Foot Mercato have him close to Malaga, newly promoted to La Liga, with nothing signed and nothing announced.
Manchester United, Sevilla, Monaco. Then a promoted side in Andalusia, if it happens.
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