Manchester City’s determination to prise Paul Pogba from Juventus has led to Yaya Touré being offered as a makeweight in a deal for the Frenchman, who is valued at €100m (£71.5m) by the Italian champions. City have visited Turin to hold talks over a potential transfer for the 22-year-old.
They face competition from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, who signed the midfielder from Le Havre in July 2009 before allowing him to depart on a free to Juve three summers later.
City have offered not only Touré, whose relationship with the club is troubled, but Samir Nasri, Stevan Jovetic, Aleksandar Kolarov and Edin Dzeko to Juventus should the Serie A club wish to include one or more in any deal for Pogba. City are the only club to have gone to Turin to firm up their interest in buying a player who would be the ideal replacement for Touré and would be expected to be the mainstay of the midfield for the foreseeable future.
Juve are reluctant to sell but will listen to offers in the region of €100m, though their preference would be a straight cash deal and it remains to be seen if they would accept a player in part-exchange.
Pogba’s first choice is to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona, with City then favourites ahead of PSG. Real’s interest has caused Zinedine Zidane, coach of their Castilla ‘B’ team, to make contact with the player’s camp by telephone to begin a dialogue. At the end of March Zidane told Canal+: “When we are talking about a player like Pogba, it is only logical Real Madrid are interested in signing him. He is a player with immense potential, who still has an important margin for improvement. He is still young and has an exciting future ahead of him. Where Pogba will play next season? I don’t know the answer to that question. You will have to ask him.”
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