The drumbeats have started from MARCA, the Spanish newspaper that is often a mouthpiece for Real Madrid.
The headline in Thursday’s issue is that the European Champions are set to offer Juventus €120 million for Paul Pogba, or a package deal that includes cash plus their Spanish midfielder Isco.
Club president Florentino Perez has never been a huge fan of Pogba in the past and much less his agent Mino Raiola who the club have tended to avoid dealing with.
Real coach Zinedine Zidane however is a huge fan of Pogba, and made his desire to recruit his fellow countryman clear ahead of their Champions League final clash against city rivals Atletico, stating that he would do everything possible to bring his countryman to Madrid.
The 23-year-old midfielder, is going to be the star of Euro 2016, the there is nothing that Real like to do is to sign the latest ‘Galactico’. Coming out of the 2014 World Cup that player was James Rodríguez who they signed for €80m.
Pogba is going to cost a lot more than that, especially as Manchester United and Chelsea both are desperate to sign the 230year-old.
Working in Real’s favor is that Pogba has told Raiola he would prefer La Liga over a return to England and with the attraction of playing for Zidane they feel confident they could persuade the former Manchester United youngster to move to the Bernabeu.
Satisfying Juventus would be the next hurdle to be crossed which is where 24-year-old Isco could play a major part.
The Spain international was signed from Malaga in 2013 for €24m (£19m) but fell out of favour last season with Rafa Benitez. When Zidane took over many expected him to regain his place in the side but he remained on the bench and is angling for a move.
Juventus director Giuseppe Marotta is set to fly out to Madrid next week to discuss Madrid’s buy-back clause of striker Alvaro Morata, who has been with the Bianconeri for the past two seasons.
Putting together a package that could include cash plus Isco and Morata would be something that Juventus would find difficult to turn down.
Pogba has publicly expressed his admiration of Barcelona as that his football idols are Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta.
The problem for Barca is that their wage budget is already at the limit set by the club’s own statutes and pay rises for Neymar and Messi need to be financed. They cannot afford Pogba’s €10m+ wages.
Which is why Real Madrid are thinking that a Pogba deal is a bit of déjà vu. iThe last time Juventus received a record-breaking offer was when Madrid brought in their Zidane from the Bianconeri for what would today equal €77m in 2001.
As a result of the deal, Juventus were able to bring in Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, and Pavel Nedved – a similar situation could play itself out this summer.
