Make of this what you will. Read it into whatever you feel like reading into it. The agent of Paul Pogba, Mino Raiola, said today that Manchester United are far from the only team involved in the derby to acquire him.
Raiola told Italy’s Sky Sport that anything could happen before the window closes on Aug. 31st, and that Juventus are still looking to keep the star midfielder.
He also added that the do-it-all dynamo would be okay with staying put in Serie A.
“Juve don’t want to get rid of Pogba — they want him to stay for a long time and they want to renew his contract, and only if he wants to leave will we sit down and talk about it,” Raiola said.
“I can’t exclude anything, though, not even that he will be sold to another club.”
“The transfer market is open for a long time — it closes in September. Between Raiola and all the clubs in the world there is a line open, not only with Manchester United.”
Sky Sports News reported this past weekend that Real Madrid have dropped out of the race, leading to the belief that Manchester United, the team Pogba left in 2012, are now the over-whelming front-runners in the race to acquire him.
This transfer saga has taken many different twists and turns, and who knows, it may just keep going all the way until deadline day, just as Raiola pointed out. There have been stories linking Paris Saint-Germain star Blaise Matuidi, and even United midfielder Juan Mata.
Between now and September, there will be more players likely linked in the Paul Pogba transfer narrative.
Raiola is just doing his job as an agent- trying to inflate the price of his client, which could end up being a record £100 million, if he does move. He’s an agent who loves to talk big in the media, and create more publicity and buzz. If I were a player, I’d want my agent doing the exact same thing.
Raiola told Tuttosport in March of 2015, regarding Paul Pogba:
“He is wanted by seven clubs and that is certain, because they all told me so. The ones that can afford him are Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
“If I just whistled, I’d sell Pogba tomorrow to PSG or City in a heartbeat. But Paul did not tell me to find him another club. As of today, it’s 99 percent [Pogba will stay at Juventus].”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition.
He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram