Manchester United said to have made request to sign player in January – Part of wider deal

There’s no way the Spanish media were going to let go of Paul Pogba to Real Madrid just because the transfer window closed.

All eyes inevitably moved to future windows, with the more outlandish claims talking about a potential Manchester United exit in the January market.

Nobody loves a sensational Real Madrid claim more than El Chiringuito. Often seeming like more of an entertainment programme than a relayer of actual football news, the show has tried to grasp back some credibility in recent months.

Chief presenter Josep Pedrerol has contacts at the Spanish club and has genuinely brought some news before others. That means El Chiringuito are being taken a little more seriously.

On Tuesday evening they reported Manchester United have asked for €180m for Pogba, and Real Madrid are aiming for the winter market. To bring the cost down, Madrid want to include players, and it’s claimed the Premier League club have therefore asked to sign Toni Kroos.

This is a painting-by-numbers transfer rumour and it’s worth pointing out the claims didn’t come from the mouth of Pedrerol, but rather Eduardo Inda, who, to be frank, and putting it politely, doesn’t have the same stature.

Despite that, the story has already been picked by Sport and others in Spain, so will spread around Europe as usual.