Man Utd 'request Vinicius and £85m' from Real Madrid to end Paul Pogba transfer saga

Manchester United have reportedly requested Vinicius Jr in the deal to sell Paul Pogba to Real Madrid. Pogba’s future remains up in the air despite returning to the side against Watford last week with Real Madrid keen on snapping him up.

And, according to Spanish publication El Desmarque, United are ready to sell him for either a straight £160m or £85m plus Vinicius coming the other way.

The young Brazilian has not hit the heights this year under Zinedine Zidane and has only scored twice – once in La Liga and once in the Champions League.

But United need more options up front after selling Romelu Lukaku and allowing Alexis Sanchez to leave on loan.

United are relying on Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and teen star Mason Greenwood in attack, and 19-year-old Vinicius would give them another option.

Madrid appear to be actively trying to move Vinicius on with Zidane not a huge fan, and if United’s interest is genuine the deal could help all parties.

Read more: Paul Pogba ready to return to Juventus in January

Pogba publicly admitted he wanted to move on in the summer and is believed to be desperate to join Real Madrid, while Zidane made him his top target.

Pogba and Zidane were even pictured together in Dubai earlier this year when the midfielder was recovering from injury.

United meanwhile are fed up of the constant speculation around the midfielder and could use the money to bring in replacements in midfield and around the rest of the team.

United are already in the market for a midfielder this winter, even if Pogba stays, and also need a striker and a winger.

In the summer they signed Daniel James, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka and all three have started life at United well, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to do more business with United stuck in eighth place and an incredible 24 points behind league leaders Liverpool.

They have been linked with the likes of Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho and James Maddison, but all three could be difficult to seal in January.

Haaland is now most likely to join Juventus while Dortmund and Leicester are not keen to sell midseason if at all.

source: express.co.uk