Report: Manchester United made it clear they would only be willing to meet Timo Werner’s release clause if they found a buyer for Paul Pogba

According to The Athletic, Manchester United weren’t able to table a bid for RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner because of French midfielder Paul Pogba.

Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a meeting with the German striker in Berlin in February, and Werner’s representatives re-opened talks with the club and Chelsea after Liverpool pulled out of the race due to financial reasons.

However, United made it clear they would only be willing to meet his £54 million release clause if they found a buyer for Pogba.

Chelsea have since moved to agree terms with the Bundesliga club and player after having met the clause in full, and the deal is set to be finalized next week.

It appears the Red Devils won’t be able to spend big on a single player in summer if their 27-year-old star isn’t sold.

They value the France international at £150 million, and while Real Madrid and Juventus have been linked with an interest, it doesn’t seem any of them will be keen to pay that much for the midfielder.

United hope selling Pogba will help fund moves to sign the trio of Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and Jude Bellingham this summer, and it will be interesting to see what happens.

Landing Werner would have boosted their attacking ranks next term given that he is better than any of their current forwards, but they have missed out on him to a Roman Abramovich-backed Chelsea.

Pogba has a year left on his current contract, and can sign a pre-contract with a foreign team in next January if no extension is reached before then, but the club want to avoid losing him for below his market value, and will be triggering the one-year extension clause in his contract soon.