Manchester United turned down the chance to complete a blockbuster swap deal with Juventus for wantaway Paul Pogba.
Manchester United’s elimination from the Champions League Group Stage might be the biggest issue surrounding the club right now. But the comments of Mino Raiola regarding Paul Pogba’s Old Trafford future are not far behind.
For a few years now it has looked like the Frenchman wants to leave the club and his agent has not kept it a secret either, publicly speaking about it on multiple occasions. The Red Devils have managed to hold onto the midfielder despite this but with his contract running out, that might be about to change very soon.
It would make sense for United to let him go in the upcoming summer in order to get a transfer fee out of the move. Otherwise, the Frenchman could walk out for free the following summer when his contract his up.
Raiola’s comments though proved to be a huge distraction leading upto the game against RB Leipzig and many fans would’ve probably hoped that the club had already let him go. And it looks like the opportunity was there to make a deal happen.
As reported by the Express, Fabrizio Romano revealed on his Here We Go Podcast, that Juventus had offered the Red Devils Miralem Pjanic and Douglas Costa in a blockbuster swap deal for Pogba but it was turned down:
"“Juventus offered Pjanic and Douglas Costa to Manchester United for Paul Pogba to start talks, Manchester United turned it down.“Juventus are in the race to sign Pogba. Juve will try again with a swap deal if that doesn’t work, Juve will need to sell important players first to finance the Pogba deal.“If Juve don’t sell any players or swap deals doesn’t work, simply they can’t get Pogba.“It’s difficult to sign Pogba in January, Juventus will need to sell players and Manchester United will want the full asking price.“You only get a four-week window, not a three-month window like the summer.”"
More from Manchester United News
- Aaron Wan Bissaka out for ‘several weeks’ with injury
- Sofyan Amrabat set to miss game against Brighton
- Preview: Manchester United vs Brighton – What you need to know
- Jadon Sancho set to train away from first team squad
- Mike Phelan blasts Manchester United teammates over Ronaldo exit
To be very honest, United probably did the right thing by not going for the deal. Both Pjanic and Costa are great players on their day but they are past 30. As a result, they do not have an incredible value in the transfer market. Or so we had thought before FC Barcelona decided to sign the Bosnian for an incredible €60 million.
There is hope though that United could get a good deal for Pogba with clubs like Juventus, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona reportedly interested in acquiring his services.
There is a massive problem now though for the Red Devils. Raiola’s comments pretty much confirmed that Pogba is going to eventually leave the club and has no interest in extending his contract. In that case, United do not have a lot of leverage when it comes to negotiating a deal for the midfielder since anybody who wants him will be aware that he can leave for free in the following summer.
Thus, it will be interesting to see where Pogba ends up. Do not be surprised if a swap deal actually ends up happening this time around.