Zinedine Zidane is reportedly pressing Real Madrid to sign Paul Pogba from Man Utd this summer, but it will take player sales first to pave the way for a swoop.
The Spanish giants are coming off the back of a bitterly disappointing campaign in which they ended up trophyless and well off the pace set by La Liga champions Barcelona.
In turn, they have already been busy strengthening the squad this summer, with Zidane seeing Eder Militao, Luka Jovic, Eden Hazard and Ferland Mendy all arriving.
That may not be the end of their spending spree though, as Calciomercato note that Zidane has made it clear to club president Florentino Perez that he wants Pogba at the Bernabeu next season too.
It’s added that Real Madrid are willing to offer cash and a player exchange deal for the €150m-rated superstar, with one of Toni Kroos or Gareth Bale moving to Old Trafford as part of the switch.
However, it’s also added that in order to raise the funds and balance the books, Madrid are looking to sell Bale, Dani Ceballos and Lucas Vazquez first in order to arm themselves with the funds needed to convince Man Utd to sell.
That task seemingly became a lot easier on Friday as Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, publicly revealed that his client is seeking an exit from United this summer, as per BBC Sport, thus paving the way for Real Madrid to make their move as it could be argued that United won’t want to keep Pogba against his wishes.
Time will tell how the situation plays out, but there are still pieces to fall into place for a Pogba exit to materialise, as firstly Real Madrid must offload players to make space in the squad and raise funds to bring in another superstar signing.
Adding Pogba to Hazard in the same transfer window will undoubtedly send a real message of intent out to their rivals both domestically and in Europe, if they can pull it off in the coming weeks.
