JUVENTUS HAVE TURNED down a £85 million (€101m) bid for Paul Pogba from Manchester United, claim reports in the media today.
The 23-year-old will cost United dear, with £100m (€120m) the fee suggested, as he left them for Juventus for nothing in July 2012 after making just a handful of appearances — prompting then manager Alex Ferguson to slam him for showing no respect to the club.
Pogba was an integral part of the France side that reached the Euro 2016 final although his performance in the 1-0 loss to Portugal received a panning.
However, the present United regime are prepared to throw money at Pogba, who has played a crucial role for Juventus in their dominance of the domestic scene in the past few seasons.
His arrival could complete new manager Jose Mourinho’s spending for the upcoming season after the arrivals of Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Sky Sport Italia are claiming United have already had the opening gambit rejected, while the Daily Star say United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has remained in England to try and seal the deal rather than travelling to China for the club’s China pre-season friendly tournament with city rivals Manchester City and German heavyweights Borussia Dortmund.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail suggests that United will lodge a bid today and that senior players are confident Pogba will be returning to the club, whilst The Daily Mirror reports United are closing in on the playmaker terming him the ‘£100m man’.
For some the omens are good as it was on this date in 2012 Ferguson persuaded the United board to part with £24m to lure Dutch star and Arsenal captain Robin van Persie away from their rivals — he went on to more than reward the United faithful with 30 goals that season as the Red Devils stormed to the title.
