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Football

29th Jul 2018

Juventus willing to sell key players to fund world record Paul Pogba move

Simon Lloyd

#PogbackII?

Paul Pogba could be set to leave Manchester United for Juventus. Again.

The World Cup-winning midfielder allegedly fell out with Jose Mourinho during last season and has been linked with various moves abroad ever since.

Over the last week, several reports have hinted that Pogba is being lined up for a return to Juve, the club he joined from United as a 19-year-old. An exclusive from The Mirror now claims the Italian champions have told Mino Raiola, Pogba’s agent, that they are interested in bringing him back for a second spell in Turin.

After already spending £90m to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to the club, Juve are said to be willing to shift several high-profile members of their first-team squad in order to raise the £200m+ they believe it would take to persuade United to sell Pogba. Miralem Pjanic, Gonzalo Higuain, Daniele Rugani and Mattia Caldara are all mentioned as being players Juve may look to sell to facilitate a world record bid for the 25-year-old.

Pogba played for Juventus between 2012 and 2016

Pogba originally joined Juve in 2012 after failing to agree a new contract with United. He won the Serie A title during every season he was at the club, also reaching the Champions League final against Barcelona in 2015.

The Mirror’s report also adds that Raiola began exploring the possibility of Pogba moving to another club as far back as January – seemingly supporting claims made by Pep Guardiola that the midfielder was offered to Manchester City. Juve were one of the clubs contacted by the agent and made it clear they were interested in making a deal happen.

Despite this, it’s likely that United will have the final say on the matter. With the transfer window for English clubs closing before the rest of Europe, it’s difficult to see United agreeing to such a deal with so little time to bring in a replacement.