It may be two months until the January transfer window, and even longer until next summer’s, but that doesn’t stop the rumours about Paul Pogba.
The Manchester United midfielder is a man that everyone wants and the latest to join the list of admirers are former club Juventus.
The Serie A side’s interest in re-signing Pogba is long-established, but recently the rumours about a potential move have been steadily increasing, hinting that something is going on.
Gazzetta Dello Sport have a piece on a potential move for Pogba today, and it seems as far as they’re concerned, Juventus will be making a move for the Manchester United man.
In fact, they’ve gone as far as to give three reasons why Juventus will pursue a deal. The newspaper explains that firstly, Pogba falls into Juventus’ strategy.
They want to ‘repeat the Cristiano Ronaldo operation’ but with a younger player. They are targeting a top player that has ‘technical appeal’ but also ‘media appeal’ to help Juve expand the brand in new markets. Pogba fits both categories.
Secondly, there is Pogba’s relationship with Juve. The midfielder still has ‘excellent’ relations with the Juve locker room and club executives as well.
That’s something he doesn’t have at Manchester United, where the ‘spark’ has never existed. Likewise, his relationship with United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær is described as ‘poor’.
Last, but certainly not least, is Mino Raiola. While the super-agent is disliked almost everywhere else, it’s different at Juventus.
He brought them Matthijs De Ligt this summer but also has a good relationship with vice president Pavel Nedved. That works in Juve’s favour.
Of course, a deal would not be easy to do. Manchester United will demand a big fee, and Gazzetta explain Juve will need to ‘make ends meet’ first.
However, they are planning on selling Mario Mandzukic and Emre Can in January and will let someone go next summer too. They want to make room for Pogba and are ‘ready to do this and more’ to make a move happen.
