Real Marid: Zidane ultimatum to Pogba: "It's now or never"
Zidane wants to use Pogba as Deschamps did at the last World Cup in Russia: in the double pivot position with freedom to push forward.
"It's now or never". That is the ultimatum that Zinedine Zidane wanted to transmit directly to Paul Pogba regarding his possible summer move to Real Madrid.
The Manchester United midfielder remains a prime target for the French coach, despite the fact that in his last press conference he pointed out that he had never said he would sign Pogba.
“I never said we would bring Pogba and I wouldn't say it until things were done."
That phrase, "until things were done", could suggest several things: that the player and the coach have already had several conversations about his future at Madrid and the role he would play.
Zidane wants to use him as Deschamps did at the last World Cup in Russia: in the double pivot position with freedom to push forward, and perhaps sitting in front of the double pivot, giving him greater freedom to attack.
Pogba has already suggested to some of those around him that this summer he would leave United, who took a major setback last weekend by putting themselves out of the running for qualifying for the Champions League next season. And the prospect of not playing in the Champions League has further confounded Pogba’s desire to get out of Old Trafford.
Pogba: a long-time target of Zidane
Zidane first wanted to Pogba to join Madrd in 2015 when he was Carlo Ancelotti's number two, but the French midfielder opted to stay at Juventus after they lost the Champions League final to Barcelona. A year later, the French international chose to take the money offered by Manchester Untied rather than listen to Madrid’s proposal.
The Red Devils paid more than 100 million euros to acquire his services in the summer of 2016. At the time, members of the Madrid board thought United had fallen into the trap of his agent, Mino Raiola, whom they suspected managed to inflate the price of his client by putting United through an imaginary 'auction'.
After a monumentally poor season for Madrid this season, the club’s squad is need of renewing. With the signing of Porto’s Eder Militao already secured, Pogba and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard are tipped to be two big-name summer additions -- and everything seems to indicate that the Hazard deal is already a certainty.