Paul Pogba to Manchester United: Midfielder 'completes move' but agent Mino Raiola rejects £112m deal claims
After weeks of speculation, it looks like Pogba's return to Old Trafford has finally been formalised and will be officially confirmed shortly
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Paul Pogba’s £112m return to Manchester United has reportedly been agreed and is likely to be confirmed by the club this weekend with the Frenchman set to earn £290,000-a-week.
The 23-year-old will move to Old Trafford as part of a world-record deal - once agent, salary and administrative fees are included - making him the most expensive football player in history.
The Independent understands that United will pay £92m for the Juventus midfielder while the Serie A giants are expected to foot the tax bill in a move which will lower the expectation on Pogba.
Because of this, it has been reported that Juventus will announce the transfer fee at £84.3m, just shy of the £86m Real Madrid paid to Tottenham Hotspur for Gareth Bale in 2013.
Furthermore, United and Juventus have also agreed upon a £20m agent fee for Mino Raiola, the Dutch super-agent, with the Italian champions paying for the additional £4m owed.
This follows the news that Pogba had flown to Los Angeles from Miami for his medical on Thursday evening. With this evaluation now believed to have been completed, the Daily Mail suggests that the 23-year-old has agreed to sign a five-year contract with United worth £290,000-a-week.
As part of the deal, Juventus will receive a bonus payment should the French ace renew his United contract and another should he win the Ballon d’Or.
The agreed £92m fee easily smashes the previous transfer record paid by a British club when United brought Angel Di Maria to Old Trafford from the Real Madrid for £59.7m two years' ago.
With the Manchester club apparently eager to announce the signing, Pogba is set to become Jose Mourinho’s fourth, and potentially last, signing of the summer.
He follows defender Eric Bailly, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
However, Raiola, the man behind the deals which took Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan to Old Trafford this summer, has taken to Twitter to brand journalists as “parrots” before accusing them of engaging in an on-going battle between the English and Italian media after rejecting claims of a done deal.
The 48-year-old’s latest tweet, posted on Friday evening, will alarm United fans who considered Pogba’s switch to have been all but agreed with a medical reportedly taking place in Los Angeles ahead of an imminent announcement this weekend.
Raiola wrote: “Journalist = parrots No deal done between Clubs. It’s a game between Italy press and UK press who announce it first and who is worse.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments