Barcelona plotting audacious swap deal to snap up Manchester United attacker in January: Reports

Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Manchester United attacker Anthony Martial in January. They could offer a player swap deal for the Frenchman, as reported by Fichajes via thehardtackle. The four first-team players who could be part of the negotiations include Frenkie De Jong, Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Clement Lenglet.

Anthony Martial's Manchester United career has not panned out as the 26-year old would have hoped for. He was bought from AS Monaco with high expectations for £36 million in 2015. His six-year spell at the 'Theater of Dreams' has been tumultuous to say the least.

Despite being the top scorer at the club for two seasons, the French striker has endured long spells where he's hardly been relevant. Martial has only played 359 minutes of football this season and scored a solitary goal.

As per reports, Manchester United have set an asking price of £30 million for the former AS Monaco man. Barcelona are reportedly interested but cannot cough up money due to their much publicized financial issues. Hence, a player exchange deal looks like the most likely scenario.

The pursuit of Anthony Martial makes sense for Barcelona. With Sergio Aguero retiring from the game due to heart problems, the Catalan giants have only three players who could play in the striker position. These are Memphis Depay, Luuk De Jong, and Martin Braithwaite.

While Depay started the season in decent form, he has waned quite quickly. Luuk De Jong and Martin Braithwaite have a combined tally of three goals this season, a number that doesn't bode well for the Spanish club.

With Barcelona desperately looking to boost its forward line, the club have reportedly put de Jong, Dembele, Coutinho and Clement Lenglet on the market. Blaugrana are ready to offer any one of them in exchange for Martial.

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Barcelona are currently 7th in LaLiga, Manchester United 6th in the Premier League

Languishing at 7th in the league table with only 28 goals scored and 21 conceded, this is Barcelona's worst start to a season in the modern era. Regular first-teamers such as Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Marc Andre Ter Stegen and Jordi Alba have all been below their usual high standards.

In attack, no one has yet reached double figures for goals. Ronald Koeman was sacked in December with the Catalans appointing club legend Xavi to succeed him. With the appointment, board members and fans alike hoped for a turnaround quite like Real Madrid had with Zinedine Zidane. However, the struggles have continued in recent matches despite the Barcelona legend being at the helm.

Like Barcelona, Manchester United too have already sacked one manager this term. Despite signing Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored the bulk of their goals this season (13), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could not get Manchester United into the top four. However, under Norweigan's successor, Ralf Ragnick, the team has shown signs of improvement and are currently sitting sixth in the table.

Both Barcelona and Manchester United will be hoping to have a good January transfer window to help turn their season around.