Manchester United have dramatically cut their asking price on Paul Pogba as they bid to part ways with the midfielder in the January window.
A storm is brewing at United ever since Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola claimed the midfielder’s career with the club was over.
In an extraordinary interview, Raiola claimed that Pogba is “unhappy” at United and that the club would have to sell him in either of the next two transfer windows.
The midfielder was the most expensive player in the world when United brought him back from Juventus in 2016. However, Pogba has suffered with inconsistency since.
The Frenchman, whose contract expires in 2022, has started just five Premier League games this season – although he did score a wonder goal as a starter in their last game against West Ham.
Raiola’s latest claims have delivered a hammer blow to any hopes that Pogba would be able to resurrect his United career, and will have done little to improve his relationship with the club.
The midfielder came off the bench on Tuesday night against RB Leipzig as United crashed out of Europe. After the match, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hit back at Raiola with some home truths about the midfielder.
Signs of how his agent’s actions have divided the club then came to the fore in obvious fashion. That’s when former teammates and pundits Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes strongly disagreed about the best course of action over Pogba.
Now, according to The Sun, United are desperate to part ways with the midfielder in January.
The paper claims the Red Devils have lowered his asking price to ‘just £50m’ in a bid to find a taker.
That is likely to tempt Juventus, who were on Wednesday linked with a potential swap deal.
That valuation will see United lose the best part of £40m from their original £89.3m investment. However, with the player’s contract expiring in 2022, United don’t believe his form will improve significantly in that time to rise further. And with the clock ticking on his future, they see it better to sell now.
Furthermore, the paper reports United are desperate to rid themselves of Pogba’s troublesome agent Raiola. Selling Pogba in January might be seen as bowing to his agent’s demands.
However, United simply believe now the club would be better off without the baggage Pogba and his representative bring.
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United given fresh Jadon Sancho hope
Meanwhile, United’s bid to land Jadon Sancho has taken a positive twist after Borussia Dortmund reportedly found a replacement.
The youngster’s ‘will he, won’t he’ transfer saga continued during the whole of the last transfer window.
However, nothing emerged.
Dortmund wanted huge money for the England star to be prized away, with United willing to meet their £108million demands.
There remains, however, a growing feeling in the German media that the saga isn’t over yet.
To that end SportBild (via Sport Witness) suggest Dortmund already have plans in place to deal with life after Sancho.
And the man they’ve identified is former Arsenal forward Donyell Malen.
The PSV man plays as a centre forward by Roger Schmidt but is also comfortable out wide.
The Dutchman was formerly on Arsenal’s books after joining them from Ajax in 2015.
He played in various youth teams and on the club’s pre-season tour of Australia and China in 2017. However, he never tasted first-team action.
Malen moved on to PSV that summer and has netted 41 goals in 94 games for the Eredivisie side.
READ MORE: United still want £100m Prem star to replace Pogba
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James Marshment
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