Jose Mourinho is looking for revenge over his former employers as Manchester United have reportedly offered Juventus a world-record fee of up to £100m for their former player Paul Pogba. United are said to have offered Pogba £250,000-a-week in wages, two figures that Real Madrid cannot match.
The United bid puts the European Champions in a bind. With a one-year transfer looming, Real Madrid are looking to bring in reinforcements for several positions. But to match United’s £100m bid, Real would have to sell James Rodríguez and Álvaro Morata, two players that they have been shopping around.
Real could match the transfer fee, but is the wages that are the issue. United’s offer would make Pogba the second highest paid player at the Bernabéu, ahead of the likes of Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos. That would not go down well in the Madrid dressing room.
With the bidding too high for Barcelona or Manchester City, could Juventus turn down such an offer, especially with Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola angling for his client to move to Old Trafford.
United see Pogba as the type of all-action midfielder who will help erase the memory of Louis van Gaal’s dismal reign during which United failed to take control of games.
Outgoing assistant manager Ryan Giggs is left in no doubt that Pogba would be a perfect fit at United.
‘He’s a talented player. He can shoot with both feet, pass the ball with both feet and you don’t realise how big he is,’ Giggs said on ITV.
‘Physically he’s immense, he’s strong, he’s quick, and he’s got everything. He has got everything.’
Pogba’s father has stated that his son wants to play in a ‘better league’ than Serie A and agent Mino Raiola, who also represents Ibrahimovic, is trying to negotiate a deal.
‘Paul has to grow. He’s at Juve now, so any transfer must be run past Juventus,’ Raiola said.
Do you think that United will sign Pogba this summer, or is he just one in a long line of players using United’s interest to get a better contract elsewhere?
