Spanish publication AS have taken it upon themselves to interpret vague comments made by Paul Pogba last week as a “come and get me” plea, although theirs is a story Manchester United fans might want to take with a pinch of salt. On international duty with France, the midfielder described Real Madrid as “a dream for anyone”, prompting excitable journalists to declare this means he is ready to leave Manchester United and his agent Mina Raiola is already “working hard” to find his client a new club. Reports elsewhere suggest Real have offered James Rodríguez as a potential makeweight but say United would only countenance sanctioning the sale of Pogba if it meant they got Gareth Bale.
Meanwhile, across the channel, France Football say Real manager Zinedine Zidane has identified Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé as a potential £240m summer signing, while in-form Liverpool striker Sadio Mané is also being touted as a potential cornerstone of the Spanish club’s rebuild.
A longtime Manchester United target who almost joined the club in 2017, Ivan Perisic is currently being linked with a move to Spurs. Reports in Italy say the Serie A side are prepared to let the 30-year-old winger go for £30m, which is £10m more than Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is prepared to pay. Despite being contracted to Barcelona until 2023, the word on the streets around the Camp Nou is that the club are prepared to let France defender Samuel Umtiti go and would consider selling him to Manchester United. The 25-year-old appears to have other ideas, however. Asked on French television if he’d still be at Barcelona next season, he responded with the one-word answer: “yes”.
With his contract at Manchester United due to expire at the end of this season, Ander Herrera could be off to PSG, but is also understood to have admirers at Arsenal. In a similar position at Liverpool, where he is unable to get a game ahead of Andy Robertson, Alberto Moreno will leave Anfield this summer and could move to Barcelona.
Having stayed in China despite interest from Arsenal in the January transfer window, Yannick Carrasco has let it be known he wants to leave his current club Dalian Yifang and move closer to home this summer. “I would love to return to Europe,” he said. “A lot of clubs were interested in me. We tried to find a solution in January that would enable me to leave Dalian Yifang. But I can understand the club’s thinking. They wanted me to stay. I still feel OK in China. But I have lost my starting place in the Belgian national side.” Whether Arsenal are still interested in Carrasco remains to be seen, but they are reported to be courting Guingamp striker Marcus Thuram, who has just one year left on his deal with the relegation-threatened Ligue 1 side.
Arsenal are also giving Ajax left-back Nicolás Tagliafico the glad eye, but will have to duke it out with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Tottenham, among others, in the battle to secure the scrawl of an Argentinian 26-year-old who says “it’s great that they are talking about me because it means things are going well.”
And finally, having failed to make much of an impression at Leicester since joining from Freiberg last year, central defender Caglar Soyuncu could be off home to Turkey where both Fenerbahce and Besiktas are prepared to offer him a new home.