Real Madrid and PSG set to do battle for Paul Pogba

Real Madrid are closely following several players whose contracts expire in June 2022, including Manchester United’s Paul Pogba.

Madrid’s plan revolves around the expectation that these players will not renew their deals with their current clubs, then outbidding any other suitors in negotiations, given there will be plenty of competition for these players considering their high level. In the case of Pogba, Madrid already knows that its greatest rival will be PSG.

On Wednesday, UK newspaper the Daily Star reported that Pogba has decided that he will not renew his contract with United and that in July 2022 he will sign with Real Madrid. Meanwhile, according to Sky Sports reports, PSG has already decided that next summer it will bet heavily on two players who end their contracts: Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi dreams of joining the Portuguese with Messi and Neymar to form the most experienced and powerful attacking force in Europe.

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PSG want Pogba in order to look more French

And in the case of signing Pogba, aside from reinforcing PSG’s midfield, the French midfielder would give more French identity to the project, which since it started has been viewed with suspicion in the rest of France due to its foreign roots.

The fact that the Parisian club is owned by Qatar is not of great concern to PSG fans, who have been eager to stand out in Ligue 1 for years, after years in the shadow of Marseille and Lyon.

But in the rest of the country, it is seen as an artificial project, which prevents it from gaining followers beyond the capital; hence the club tries, whenever it can, to sign French players who contribute to national identity.

Be that as it may, if Pogba ends his contract at United, he will have a choice and his main intention is to go to Madrid, a club he has been wanting to join for years. However, the question of salary will also be decisive and that is an area in which PSG can have an advantage.