Real Madrid will reportedly only offer up to £90m to sign Paul Pogba from Man Utd this summer, which falls well short of the Frenchman’s touted valuation.
The 26-year-old enjoyed the most productive season of his career to date last year, scoring 16 goals and providing 11 assists in 47 appearances.
Albeit he was still inconsistent and faced plenty of scrutiny and criticism along the way, Pogba appeared to flourish under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer initially and appears to have a major role to play for the United boss moving forward.
However, as noted by BBC Sport, he cast doubt over his future at Old Trafford over the weekend by suggesting that’s ready for a new challenge elsewhere, and so now that undoubtedly puts Man Utd in a difficult position this summer.
On one hand, they will surely be desperate to keep their midfield talisman given his importance on and off the pitch. However, Solskjaer will also arguably only want players who want to play for him and are fully committed, and so perhaps selling Pogba and reinvesting that fee back into the squad would be the most sensible idea.
According to The Sun, Real Madrid are going to test United’s patience, as it’s claimed that they will offer just £90m for Pogba, which is a long way short of the £150m price-tag that the World Cup winner has, as noted in the report.
In turn, it remains to be seen if it is considered or dismissed out of hand, as Zinedine Zidane will hope to continue Madrid’s spending spree this summer as he looks to rebuild the squad.
They will perhaps believe that given Pogba’s public concession that he wants to leave, it diminishes his valuation. However, if United are to lose one of their best players this summer, they’ll want to maximise any profit so that Solskjaer has plenty of spending power of his own to fill the void.