Raiola’s secret meeting to seal mega deal for £75m Chelsea & Manchester United target

Paul-Pogba
Paul-Pogba

Paul-Pogba

There is every possibility that Paul Pogba could leave Juventus in the summer. Several big European heavyweights are reportedly interested in signing him and Juventus would be helpless to keep hold of their star player if the offer is right. 

Premier League giants Chelsea and Manchester United are frequently linked with a move, while La Liga club Barcelona are also keen to add him to their already star studded squad.

Catalan based newspaper Sport reports that Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola held a crucial secret meeting in Barcelona last week to discuss about the player’s future. Raiola met Barcelona’s new sporting director Ariedo Braida and other executives and told them that Pogba would be interested in making the move to Spain.

Barcelona have been given the green signal to make a formal offer, provided FIFA lifts their transfer ban before June 30. Alternatively, they are encouraged to find an agreement in principle and sign him permanently in 2016.

Manchester City are willing to spend heavily for him (good for the player and Raiola in terms of financial prospects) but Pogba has no clear intentions of returning to the Premier League any time soon, instead he fancies Barcelona as an ideal platform for his growth and development at this stage of his career. 

Juventus will command a high transfer fee for Pogba (by Allegri’s own admission it is around £75m), who won three Serie A titles with the Turin giants and has helped the club reach the semi-final of the Champions League this season. 

Barcelona are not willing to pay more than 70m Euros for the French international but are willing to add players as a part of the deal to ease the move. However, they need to act quickly. Pogba won’t sit around for six months and wait for Barcelona’s ban to be lifted. In such a scenario, Barcelona have two possible options – first, to sign him and hope there is no penalty from FIFA and secondly, agree a transfer, pay a chunk of transfer fee in advance and sign him permanently in 2016.

Meanwhile, Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has urged his former club not to sign Paul Pogba in the summer. Chelsea probably are in need of a box-to-box dynamic midfielder but it is highly unlikely the Blues would pay over £70m for the French midfielder. 

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