ManU reportedly has no interest in selling Paul Pogba to Barcelona.GETTY IMAGES
ManU told Barcelona it has "no interest" in selling Paul Pogba, the £89M ($114.7M) World Cup-winning midfielder in whom the club invested to bring it "success on the pitch, and commercially, over the forthcoming years," according to Sam Wallace of the London TELEGRAPH. The club has not "entertained assumptions that he might be available," with the suggestion that his agent, Mino Raiola, was trying to construct a deal "in which the Frenchman was acquired by Barcelona" in return for around £45M ($58M) and André Gomes and Yerry Mina. Pogba was back at Carrington this week and it "remains to be seen" whether he is part of ManU Manager José Mourinho’s plan for Friday’s season opener against Leicester City at Old Trafford. ManU Exec Vice-Chair Ed Woodward "is understood to have been dismissive of any notion that Pogba would be allowed to leave, whatever strains there may" be in the relationship with Mourinho. Nevertheless, it has been a "frustrating end to the transfer window for the club," with the prospect that it may be "unable to make any signings" before Thursday's 5pm deadline that has "proven such a problem" for clubs such as ManU and Tottenham. Mourinho is expected to give his first Premier League pre-match press conference of the season on Thursday and his reaction "will be instructive given his downbeat attitude" in preseason (TELEGRAPH, 8/8).
