Paul Pogba is going home.
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In such a situation, Manchester United has now made a decision to go for Pogba’s French team mate and PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi as a back up option.
We’ve been hearing for weeks that Jose Mourinho was lining up a record-breaking bid for the 23-year-old in order to have him in place for his first season at the helm at United.
But any deal is unlikely to be completed until Pogba, who is now holidaying in Miami, returns from his break.
Real Madrid are said to be monitoring Pogba’s situation, but coach Zinedine Zidane has cooled talk that the Champions League holders are set to launch a late bid to lure the French global to the Bernabeu.
Is the end in sight?
Encouragingly from a United point of view, Manchester Evening News have also posted an exclusive declaring that Pogba is happy to return to Old Trafford, and that personal terms between club, player and agent Mino Raiola have already been thrashed out.
Pogba, 23, left United for Juventus in 2012 after refusing to sign a new contract, and it will take a world record fee, thought to be in the region of £100 million (Dh484.6m), for the France worldwide to make the return to Old Trafford.
And missing out on Sanches was a strategic move to allow them to sign Pogba later in the summer, according to The Independent.
Though Man United’s £85 million figure matches the current transfer fee record, Juventus wants at least £100 million now that it has accepted that Pogba wants to leave the club.
Real Madrid are reported to have pulled out of the race to sign Pogba due to the cost of the deal, and coach Zinedine Zidane said this week: “I am happy with the squad I have got and it’s hard to improve on it”.
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The 23-year-old France global had always been the favorite of Mourinho since his days as Chelsea head coach and this time, the Portuguese mentor is said to be “so optimistic” he will finally snag Pogba that “he is already acting as if he’s got his man”, the Daily Star reported. I’d sell Pogba immediately and then straight away sign Higuain. “I don’t know where I want to go”.
