The Transfer Deadline Day is upon us and while Manchester United are scrambling to reinforce the defence and the right wing, there is a disturbing news doing the rounds in the social media.
Apparently, Paul Pogba wants to move to Barcelona and has informed the club of his desires. This comes as a blow at the end of the transfer window, as if the reports are true, United have very little time to rein in reinforcements for a very important player.
The main reason behind Pogba’s decision to leave seems to be his differences with Jose Mourinho. Mourinho had criticized Pogba last season and even benched the French midfielder when he was performing poorly.
However, the last straw seems to have been Mourinho’s recent criticism of Pogba’s performances in the World Cup, which left the former Juventus Midfielder furious. Since the World Cup, Pogba has continued his deserved post world cup rest, even though his club was fighting to put out 11 players on the pitch in the pre-season games.
There were reports that Mino Raiola, Pogba’s agent, was trying his best to sell him to Barcelona, as the Catalan side had a bid of ÂŁ44.6million plus Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes rejected by United.
The transfer market is on fire with various kinds of news now, with one report claiming that Pogba has accepted terms with Barcelona, with the player reportedly agreeing a deal that would see him earn £100m over a span of five years.
However, the Independent are now claiming that in case Barcelona fail to get their man by 9th August, they will come back in the winter window, in a deal similar to the signing of Coutinho from Liverpool.
In every possible situation, it is essential that Manchester United are prepared and are ready with a plan to replace their talisman if he does move out of Old Trafford and United could choose between three prolific replacement who have the talents to surpass Pogba at Manchester United
The Italian currently plays at PSG, where he joined at 2012. He has won 5 Ligue 1 trophies, 3 Coupe de France, 5 Coupe de la Ligue and 6 Trophee des Champions. He has played 239 games for PSG, but scored only 8 goals, a part of his game that he will definitely look to improve.
Verratti has a low centre of gravity, which gives him the ability to keep close control of the ball in tight spaces. He is also technically gifted, with good dribbling skills and is excellent on the ball. His passing range is fabulous, he is capable of both long and shot passes and his accurate long balls to the strikers and wide men frequently clear up defences.
Verratti is a dynamic playmaker, who can play in different positions in the midfield, he can defend, he can win the ball and he can thread passes and he is equally good at all of them. And he does not turn 26 until November of this year, so he is entering the peak years of his career.
Verratti is a perfect all-round footballer if there ever was one and Manchester United could look at him to fill the gap that Pogba leaves behind if he moves away.
Manchester United were reportedly looking at Verratti at one point of time. However, there are no recent updates about the playmaker shifting to Old Trafford. We will now have to wait and see if the rumours turn out to be true. Also, whether the situation really shapes up the way discussed above.