Manchester United line up Pogba replacements

Manchester United reportedly have three players on their shortlist to replace Paul Pogba should the French midfielder leave the club this summer.

The 28-year-old World Cup winner has a year left on his contract and United’s preference is that they sign him to a new long-term deal, and will offer him wages of £400,000 a week to do so, which is a sum that neither Juventus nor Real Madrid are likely to be able to match. However if he were to leave on a free transfer next summer then he might be able to get a bigger hike in his salary. However, United would prefer to sell him this summer if the other choice is to lose him for nothing.

David de Gea’s future at the club is at risk, and his departure would help the club when his £350,000-a-week salary gets off the books and can be used instead for Pogba. There are also a number of potential other sales, including Phil Jones, Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof and others. Sergio Romero and Lee Grant are also set to leave, as could Juan Mata.

The Mirror reports that United are looking at three potential replacements for Pogba should they need to bring in a new midfielder.

The first on the list is Declan Rice, West Ham’s 22-year-old England international, but he would have an asking price of around £100 million, which the club may not feel they can afford. Another player under consideration is Leicester City’s 24-year-old Wilfried Ndidi. The most experienced and perhaps glamorous alternative to Pogba is Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez. The 26-year-old Spaniard has long been linked with United, and has a transfer release clause of between £43 million and 150 million Euros - you are invited to use Google to do your own exchange rate calculations on those two sums.