Barcelona reportedly still have hope that they can prise Paul Pogba away from Man Utd before the transfer deadline passes for Spanish clubs at the end of the month.
The French international is coming off the back of helping France win the World Cup this summer, but he wasn’t always able to showcase his best performances at Old Trafford last season.
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Whether that was down to his inability to adapt to Jose Mourinho’s system and demands or perhaps that the Portuguese tactician wasn’t using him in his most effective role, it led to inconsistency and to Pogba coming off early in games as well as being left on the bench at one particular stage of the year.
Nevertheless, there is no denying the quality that the 25-year-old possesses, and he will undoubtedly be seen as a fundamental figure for the Red Devils, particularly after their failure to land more than three summer signings with Brazilian international Fred as their stand-out arrival.
According to Mundo Deportivo, United could still come under pressure from Barcelona to keep Pogba this month with the Spanish window open until August 31, as it’s claimed that the Catalan giants still want the superstar and that he is eager to leave Manchester.
Whether or not that is entirely accurate remains to be seen, but perhaps the biggest and more important obstacle standing in the way of a deal this summer is the fact that Man Utd now can’t sign a replacement for Pogba until January at the earliest.
Given the window is closed for English clubs to make signings with the Premier League campaign getting underway on Friday night, United, Mourinho and all concerned will surely be fully aware that it would be a massively damaging blow to lose Pogba now and not be able to replace him immediately.
In turn, while Barca may still reportedly want the midfield star, it will surely be some task to convince United to sell now.