Paul Pogba returned to Manchester United in 2016 after the Red Devils then paid a world-record fee to Juventus to secure his services.
The midfielder’s second spell at Old Trafford hasn’t gone well, and Calciomercato claims a possible return to Turin has been considered since 2017.
If not for the Covid-19 pandemic, the 27-year-old would have re-joined the Serie A winners in the last window.
The Red Devils further extended the World Cup winner’s contract until 2022. According to the report, the ‘crisis’ between the two parties has ‘further intensified’ in recent times.
Mino Raiola admitted the France international will have to leave United and also opened the door for a return to Juventus.
The report states the agent’s comments put the Old Lady in ‘absolute pole position’, and the Italian champions are working to make ‘PogBack’ a reality, as early as January.
For the Turin club to bring Pogba back, they need to make the finances available and also make room in the squad.
Andrea Pirlo’s side have been looking to offload Sami Khedira, but his exit may not be enough. Federico Bernardeschi’s sale in the winter market can help and his exit remains ‘fundamental’ in the operation to sign Pogba. Bernardeschi is also managed by Raiola.
Making room for signing Pogba will be Juventus’ first step, but ‘not the only one’. Calciomercato states Juve want United to at least let the player initially go out on loan, with conditions set to make a transfer permanent next summer.
The redemption figures have to be set, taking into account the impact of the coronavirus on football finances, unless the two sides can come to an agreement for a swap deal.
Apart from this, Juventus will also have to take the Raiola factor into account to welcome Pogba back to the club. There has to be a reduction in his salary and agent fee because Pirlo’s side cannot pay more than €8m net per year plus bonuses.
Calciomercato end their report by stating ‘Difficult, very difficult. But Juve tries. Indeed, it tries again’.
The first step is to make the budget available and one of the ways to do it is by sacrificing some of their fringe players.
Whether Juve will have sufficient time to fulfil all the aforementioned conditions to sign Pogba in January remains to be seen.
