Real Madrid will go head-to-head with rivals Barcelona in a bid to sign Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba.
…At least that’s according AS. The Spanish sports daily believes new Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane wants his fellow Frenchman at Real and has made him their number 1 priority.
If they do have intentions of signing the 22-year-old, they’ll have to go up against long time admirers and arch-rivals Barcelona, who have already made a bid for the player as recently as last summer.
For now, it’s all just paper-talk and that amounts to precious little in the real-world. Why mention it i hear you ask? Well mainly so that I could recap that Pogba said just a day ago: “I’m at Juventus, and I’m happy.”
Will he remain another season? It’s difficult to say. He only ever speaks in the highest regards when he discusses the club and his teammates. He’s adored by the supporters, he’s become a mainstay of the starting XI and he’s still got so much to offer. At the same time, the Barcelona’s and Real’s of this world will always attract the best players because of what they can offer. They have the money, they each have teams full of superstars and they generally tend to win something every season.
Contrast this with Beppe Marotta reiterating at every opportunity that our players are not for sale, no matter how much is offered, along with how much emphasis we’re placing on building a team for the future. Surely Pogba would be an integral part of that? What can €100m buy you when you already have a strong squad coupled with having deals in place for the most promising young talent around Italy?
Speaking personally, my hope is that we turn down the money and keep young Paul at the club for many years to come, provided that’s what he wants as well. After years in the doldrums, we’ve finally built something that’s worth keeping together. A team that understands one another on the pitch, while off the pitch, the President and his directors are doing sterling work to grow the brand while planting the seeds for the future.
Transfer rumours….they’re the bane of any websites existence. They’ll get you the hits but they rarely stand up to any scrutiny. Anyway, i digress. Here’s a poll for you to participate in:
[socialpoll id=”2323443″]
Ah the usual stories, I trust that Pogba will stay here. He is one of the main stars, got the #10, is loved by all and became who he is now at Juve, surely this counts for something.
And if it doesnt, €100 million certainly softens the blow
Rudeboy Garcia has been sacked by Roma – Luciano 7pal1eti to take over
not great timing for us – they play in 2 competitions and are likely to react well to a new coach. Meanwhile, we’re up to second but face the toughest 7 weeks of our season.
Bollocks, this is not good at all
They will also need some time to click together with a new coach, might also be a disadvantage for them in the short term.
All in all they are one game for us, a tough one at that, but not the hardest we will get.
For me personally, I beg the Gods that we beat Bayern in the CL for this tough period.
I would be okay with dropping some League points now, rather not of course, but assuming we wont win it all in the coming weeks, I prefer to go far in CL again. A top 3 finish in the League would still be a good thing, as long as we qualify for the CL
The toughest 7 weeks?
We are playing games in all 3 competitions in the coming weeks and there a some big games in it: Bayern Munich twice, Roma, Lazio, Napoli, Inter
I see it like this:
We win both games against Bayern we win Cl.
We lose we win scudetto.
If only it would be so easy 😀
We might beat Bayern and then what, there is still Barca, Real, Psg and so on xp
But yes if we would crash out of CL, anything less than another domestic double would be bad..
Pogba won’t be moving anywhere in the near future. He is well settled in the team. I don’t expect him moving, at least in a 2 season timeframe. Unless the current situation should change for him, then we might see something different.
I think Spalletti will bring a fresh air of ideas and motivation to the Roma team. The league is already very competitive with Inter and Napoli being our main rivals for the title.
There some sources already confirming an approach of Milan for Lippi. It will be interesting to see that happen. Lippi will certainly change things around for them, even if for a temporary role.
I honestly don’t think Pogba will forgo a chance to double/triple his wages, to get an extra €10+mil in promotions, and compete for CL every year with Barca to stay at Juve for too long. I think he may have left for Barca last July had they not been under transfer ban. That’s not to insult Juve or say Pogba is disloyal. There comes a point where some numbers and ambitions become hard to ignore. Juve should demand well over €120mil because he is worth it. There is no young player out there I would choose over Pogba.