Manchester United announce Anthony Martial signing

The Red Devils confirmed the move early Tuesday evening, after the story initially broke days prior.

"I'm so excited to join United," says Martial. "I've always wanted to play in the Premier League and look forward to meeting my team-mates."

Manager Louis van Gaal also gave his thoughts on his newest signing to the official Manchester United media team:

However, fans hoping for another deadline day recruit were left disappointed as no further transfers were announced at Old Trafford.

It is a huge price to pay for a 19-year-old who is yet to earn his first international cap – but the most important question is how he might improve United on the pitch.

Martial is a pacy forward who, like Thierry Henry before him at Monaco, has shown flashes of ability through the centre or wide.

He started his career at Lyon but Monaco signed him on a three-year contract for a fee of €5 million (£3.7m) in 2013 as he was only 17 at the time.

[FURTHER ANALYSIS: Who is Anthony Martial?]

Van Gaal has used a settled 4-2-3-1 formation with captain Wayne Rooney as the centre-forward. However, Van Gaal has tended to rotate the player in the number 10 role.

Adnan Januzaj played two of United's four Premier League games, but he has moved to Borussia Dortmund on loan. Ander Herrera has played there but Van Gaal still appears not to trust him. Therefore, United could move Memphis Depay in from the left wing and back to the No. 10 position where he started the game against Newcastle.

That would open up a vacancy that could be filled by 19-year-old Martial.

[FURTHER ANALYSIS: How could Manchester United line up with Anthony Martial?]

United agreed a fee of £36 million for the 19-year-old Monaco striker on Monday. Martial was allowed to leave France's training camp to travel to Carrington for a medical that same day.

While not confirmed, it is believed there are also hefty bonus clauses in the deal which could make the overall figure even bigger when all is said and done.

United or Monaco have not revealed the exact details of the heavily incentivised deal, but several reports suggest that said incentives could reach €20m (£15m).

Regardless of incentives, Martial becomes the most expensive teenager in football history, replacing Luke Shaw, who signed for United for a fee that could rise to just over £30million last summer.

Europort France's Ilyes Ramdani reports that L'Equipe claimed early on Tuesday that United first offered €50M (£36m), then €60 (£44m), €70 (£51m) and eventually €80 (£59m).

(Marcus Foley, British Eurosport): United have signed potential, and that is obviously very difficult to quantify at this point in time as potential is subjective. Furthermore, it looks as though United's desperation for attacking reinforcements significantly drove up the price. If he proves to be as successful as they expect then he will be worth every penny. However, what United really needed is a proven goalscorer. Yet, with such a larger price tag, he will be expected to hit the ground running. If Wayne Rooney continues to struggle in front of goal then the burden of goal-getting will surely fall to Martial, and that is a lot of pressure for a 19-year-old to burden.

He may prove to be a fantastic signing but he is not what they needed right now.