Pogba's price drops to €60m as Real Madrid links intensify
Reports in the UK claim that Manchester United want to offload Paul Pogba next summer, at which point Real Madrid could pick him up for a cool €60 million.
Manchester United's latest defeat against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League has put several players under the spotlight, while talk has once again intensified about Maurico Pochettino becoming Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's successor on the bench.
Among those players singled out is Paul Pogba, whose performances for the Red Devils have been well under par this season. Several reports in the British press, which have been echoed by the prestigious FourFourTwo magazine, claim that United intend to put the French midfielder on the market in 2021.
The Old Trafford outfit recently extended Pogba’s contract until 2022. But that was understood to be a mere formality for United, who agreed to that one-year extension, precisely, so the club would be in a good position to sell him in 2021.
Pogba and Real Madrid links resurface
Pogba has long been a desire of Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, though the financial aspect has always been an impediment to efforts to sign him.
But the fact now is that signing Pogba will be a much lower-cost operation for Madrid, perhaps even cheaper than that of Rennes starlet Eduardo Camavinga. And with that, links between Pogba and the Spanish giants have resurfaced again.
"Pogba wants to put himself under the command of Zinedine Zidane from next season and has managed to get Manchester United to lower his price to 60 million euros," claims Calciomercato. While the Italian news outlet may not have direct connections with United, it does have them with the player's Italian agent, Mino Raiola.
Real Madrid ruling out Pogba for now
Real Madrid has ruled out the possibility of signing Pogba for now. The club’s priorities are Kylian Mbappé and, possibly, Camavinga in 2021, followed by Erling Haaland in 2022. But Pogba has once again batted his eyelids at Zidane and reiterated that it would be his dream to play for Real Madrid one day.
"Zidane?" Many things have been said. What can I say? All the players would love to play for Real Madrid. It would surely be a dream. It's a dream for me and why not some day?" said the World Cup winner a few weeks ago.
Who knows if, when the time comes next summer, Operation Pogba could once again become appealing for Madrid, who have been close to signing him on three occasions in the past.