Man Utd demands clear as Inter are contacted over Pogba swap deal

Manchester United are reported to have contacted Inter Milan to see if they can use Paul Pogba as leverage in a bid to prise their talismanic forward Lautaro Martinez away from the San Siro.

Pogba was absent again over the weekend as a much-changed Red Devils side earned a 0-0 FA Cup third-round replay against Wolves; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explaining prior to the game that the midfielder has suffered a new complication in his bid to recover from a long-standing ankle injury.

The World Cup winner’s latest injury setback has seemingly added fuel to the fire that he could leave the club in the near future, with a report last week stating that Solskjaer would ideally cut Pogba loose if he had a better squad of players to pick from.

As things stand, United’s options in the middle of the park are incredibly thin, with Scott McTominay also sidelined at present – leaving Solskjaer to pick from Fred, Nemanja Matic, Andreas Pereira and youngster James Garner.

And while the player’s agent Mino Raiola has seemingly gone to war with United and his recent comments about steering prospective clients away from the club, the Italian-Dutchman has also stated that Pogba still “respects” the club and won’t be going anywhere before the summer.

However, a report on Monday stated that Pogba could still move on in January and it was claimed Real Madrid had been in touch with United to offer them their pick of four players as a makeweight in a deal to take the Frenchman to the Bernabeu. As per the report, Los Blancos had given United their pick from Gareth Bale, Isco, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.

However, it the Daily Mirror claimed over the weekend that United’s preference would be to offload Pogba to Inter Milan, with Argentinian forward Martinez said to be high up on Solskjaer’s wanted list.

 

The 22-year-old has combined with Romelu Lukaku to form a lethal partnership at the San Siro this season, with Martinez’s rise to stardom under Antonio Conte drawing attention of the chiefs at Barcelona, with Lionel Messi reported to be keen on bringing his fellow countryman to Spain.

However, United are also hoping to bring him to Old Trafford and it’s been reported the Red Devils have put the feelers out to Inter over a potential deal. As per reports, United are said to have told Inter they can have Pogba in return for Martinez together with a cash adjustment in the Premier League side’s favour.

Some reports have claimed United have asked Inter for £70million in addition to Martinez, but it’s also been reported United’s valuation of Pogba has now dropped, meaning a far smaller cash adjustment would suffice for Solskjaer’s side.

Whether Conte, Inter or indeed Pogba and Raiola go for that deal remains to be seen, but as things stand, that is where United’s current thinking is.

Publicly, Solskjaer has always stated that Pogba is not for sale in January and will still be a United player come the end of the January window. However, amid growing talk of swap deals involving the player, it’s now privately believed that Solskjaer is ‘happy for him to leave’ if the club receive a sizable – and seemingly acceptable – offer for the often-problematic Frenchman.