Mino Raiola, agent of Paul Pogba, has revealed that Barcelona were one of the three clubs who tried to prise the French midfielder away from Turin in the summer.
The Blaugrana offered in the region of €85m but it was rejected. Raiola believes a world record transfer fee is needed to land the Frenchman.
Raiola told RMC Sport, as noted by Gazzetta World:
Everyone knows that Pogba was [Barcelona presidential candidate] Joan Laporta’s main target. Whether it is Laporta or whether it is someone else, it remains a possibility.
Juventus met with Barcelona but they weren’t able to take him in the end because they are banned from signing players until January. Paul chose to remain, for at least another year.
In future we will see, the door is open to all clubs. The player has a very high cost though. In the summer, Juventus rejected an €85 million offer from the Blaugrana.
That is not enough: Juventus valuate the player at €100 million. The top Spanish and English clubs [could] pay this, but Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich shouldn’t be excluded.
Juventus were determined to keep hold of the Frenchman after seeing two star midfielders – Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal – depart in the summer.
Also, Pogba was right to remain with the Bianconeri for another year given he would have missed the first half of the season due to Barcelona’s transfer ban.
Barcelona have shown great willingness to splash big money on Pogba, as they look to fill the void left by club legend Xavi Hernandez.
The question is – can they sign him?
Catalan newspaper Sport believes the deal is way off the mark. In their latest article, headlined “Pogba Worth 260 million”, the newspaper claims the signing has “gone through the roof” because of the high demands of the club, the player and his agent.
Sport claims it will take a great effort to persuade Juventus to sell Pogba along with loads and loads of money. Juventus will not sell him for anything less than €100m. Pogba’s agent would ask for a long term contract (may be six years) around €25m per year, which sums up to €150m. Plus, the player demands an additional €10m as commission. To put it simply, in order to make the deal transform into a reality, Barcelona should be ready with an astronomical €260m investment for one single player.
Barcelona therefore have ruled themselves out of the race. Pogba is no longer a priority for the Catalan giants. The talks between the two clubs have stalled.
This could open the door for Premier League giants Chelsea, who had shown great interest in signing him during the summer transfer window. If the reports from Italy are to be believed, the blues were ready to dish out €85m for Pogba, but the player himself turned down such a lucrative offer.
The Blues are expected to make a move for him again next summer. The London giants have the financial power to make Pogba a record signing for the club. With Barcelona seemingly out of the equation, Chelsea are presented with a huge chance here to sign the most sought-after youngster in world football.
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