On Wednesday, Marca went to quite some length to explain that had Real Madrid wanted Paul Pogba then they would have got him. Yes, he’s very expensive, but Marca explained that Real Madrid would have found a way to do the deal.
After all, Marca also pointed out that Real Madrid was Pogba’s first choice.
Inconveniently, a week ago the same newspaper said Pogba had chosen Manchester United, and only saw Real Madrid as an alternative.
It wasn’t just Marca. An AS column on Wednesday pointed out that Pogba this week posted an Instagram image, in which he was wearing all white. Pogba’s message was one of peace to the world, but AS insinuated that instead he was winking to the blancos of Real Madrid. Maybe just using peace as, you know, a convenient cover.
Not only that, AS said that the biggest stars of football always get to move where and when they want, like Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham. Whilst it can’t be denied that Ronaldo’s dream was always Real Madrid, Beckham says something very different.
Speaking to the BBC in 2013, Beckham said: “I don’t regret it because it was out of my hands, I don’t regret leaving Man… well, I don’t regret leaving, making that decision, because as I said it wasn’t my decision.
“I found out that Manchester United wanted to sell me and the only time that I spoke to Real Madrid was the day after that came out.”
That followed him explaining in his autobiography: ‘I never wanted to leave’
It’s no surprise that Marca’s Thursday front page is another nod to Real Madrid’s superiority over Manchester United: ‘VARANE SAYS NO TO MOU’
Manchester United, and two other unnamed Premier League clubs (Who needs their name? This is firmly Marca sniping at United!), are said to have approached Real Madrid with formal offers of €40m. The £30m+ is ‘very interesting from an economic point of view’ but Varane rejected the chance.
Marca say: ‘Also the Old Trafford club, through Mou himself, made Varane aware of interest. He made it clear that he wanted him on his team… Varane, however, declined the proposal of the Portuguese coach.’
That’s page 1&2 of Marca, on page 3 is a story about Alvaro Morata, and of course it’s stated Manchester United wanted him as well, and were ejected.
Then it’s continued on page 32, yes they’re not letting go. The Pogba deal is described as ‘lunacy’.
A Spanish journalist explains: ‘In my opinion, he is far from being a crack, if by that we mean Messi, Cristiano, Bale, Neymar… and a few more.
‘It is really crazy, for a very good player, yes, but he is not, in my ranking, among the 10 best in the world right now.’
In June of this year, Marca reported Zinedine Zidane had already held talks with Pogba twice, to convince him to choose Real Madrid. Another Marca report in June stated ‘Juventus and Real Madrid will sit down to negotiate soon’.
In September of last year, Marca decided to give Manchester United a good kicking over the David De Gea failed transfer, saying it was all the fault of the English club.
They didn’t stop there, and wheeled out AC Milan’s Adriano Galliani using Mark Twain to describe Manchester when Kaka almost moved to Manchester City, it was clear Marca agreed.
American writer Twain described 1800s industrial revolution Manchester in not a very flattering light: ‘I would like to live in Manchester, England. The transition between Manchester and death would be unnoticeable.’
Manchester was repeatedly described as grim, and not a place top footballers wanted to be.
Now it’s both Manchester United and Paul Pogba who are the target of snipes, and Marca would quite clearly be thrilled to see both, should the transfer happen, fail miserably.
