Juventus will not be able to offer big money for Paul Pogba this summer but have reportedly made contact with Manchester United and offered them their pick of first-team players in an ambitious swap deal.
The Frenchman has been heavily linked with a summer move away from Old Trafford, with talks yet to resume over extending his current contract which expires in 2021 – though United have the option to trigger an extra year.
Real Madrid and old club Juve are long-time admirers of the World Cup winner, though both have been impacted financially by the coronavirus crisis and are not in a position to pay big fees this summer.
While United would still ideally like to keep Pogba, they recognise that they risk losing him for nothing if he does not sign a contract extension and could cash in if they receive a figure around the £89million they spent on the midfielder four years ago.
But according to Sky Sports and Gianluca di Marzio, Juventus cannot stump up that much cash and have instead proposed a swap deal, making contact with United ‘in the last few days’.
Juve are desperate to bring Pogba back to Turin and are prepared to offer some of their first-team stars to land him, with both Miralem Pjanic and Douglas Costa among the names United can pick from.
A host of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Barcelona and Juve, have already said that they expect the makeup of the transfer market to shift dramatically, with nine-figure transfer fees a thing of the past and swap deals taking precedence.
Any hopes of a deal hinge on whether or not United are interested in the players Juve are prepared to let go, with former target Matthijs de Ligt – who is also represented by Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola – not likely to be one of the names up for discussion.
Juventus are very keen to do a swap deal of this nature, with the added benefit of getting multiple players off the wage bill to make way for Pogba’s mammoth salary.
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane retains a significant interest in his compatriot and tried to sign him last summer, though president Florentino Perez was put off by United’s valuation and that stance is unlikely to have changed given the current financial situation.
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