Real Madrid chief draws line under Paul Pogba, admits situation ‘is really bad’

Paul Pogba TEAMtalk

Florentino Perez has admitted that Real Madrid cannot afford to make any major signings in this summer’s transfer window.

The Los Blancos president was speaking after Real secured their 34th LaLiga title on Thursday with a 3-1 victory over Villarreal.

The Spanish giants were expected to be going after more world-class talent this summer with Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba continually linked with the club.

The trail to Pogba had gone cold over the last few months, with the France midfielder reported to be close to signing a new five-year deal at Man Utd, according to The Sun.

And now Perez has said that the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic has left them in a difficult situation with fans locked out of the Bernabeu. Thus ruling out a pursuit of Pogba.

Perez told El Transistor: “The situation is really bad. It’s difficult to ask the players to take a pay cut to help deal with the situation and then make signings like that. That can wait. Madrid will sign the best again when the situation changes.

 

 

“This year has been the most difficult for me. We lost important income from the stadium. We had to talk to the players for them to do their bit. If they hadn’t voluntarily lowered their salaries, the company would have suffered losses. It’s an exceptional situation.

“We receive a lot of income from the stadium, we’ve had losses of 25% which is a lot of money. You notice it more with Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid than the other clubs because they cover their costs with television rights and we don’t.”

RAMOS HAILS ZIDANE

Zidane Ramos TEAMtalk

Meanwhile, Real Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos saluted manager Zinedine Zidane as a “unique coach” after he guided the club to a first LaLiga title in three years.

Real’s 2-1 win over Villarreal at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium on Thursday evening handed them the Spanish league title with a game to spare, on an evening when arch-rivals Barcelona slipped to a shock 2-1 defeat against Osasuna at the Nou Camp.

Ramos lifted the trophy having paid tribute to Zidane who had brought the title back to Madrid courtesy of a 10-game winning run.

He told LaLiga TV: “Zidane has been key. He’s the captain of the ship and he led us right from the start of the season. He put a lot of faith in all of us players and we have always felt protected with Zizu.

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