Soccer

Manchester United no closer to Paul Pogba deal

Speculation continues to surround the fate of Paul Pogba  
Speculation continues to surround the fate of Paul Pogba   Speculation continues to surround the fate of Paul Pogba  

MANCHESTER United's pursuit of Paul Pogba looks set to drag on for a few more days with no deal yet in place with Juventus.

The France international, a former United academy graduate, has been identified by Jose Mourinho as a key component of his new-look midfield.

It has the potential to be a world-record transfer with the Serie A side wanting in the region of £100million for the 23-year-old.

Such is the clamour for the deal to be done by the media, Pogba's agent Mino Raiola decided to involve himself in the public debate.

"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," he Tweeted.

Reports of a medical already having taken place are believed to be wide of the mark as there remains to be a deal in principle agreed between the two clubs.

Everyone is interested in signing Pogba!

Negotiations are likely to continue over the weekend while United play a pre-season friendly against Galatasaray in Gothenburg, which is likely to see the first appearance in a United shirt for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The 34-year-old Swede trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Thursday and was included in the 23-man travelling party.

Captain Wayne Rooney and goalkeeper David de Gea look set to get their first outings under Mourinho having sat out the game against Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai.

The pair were joined in the squad by four others who did not travel to China for the first leg of United's pre-season preparations - Matteo Darmian, Marouane Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial - following their involvement in the latter stages of Euro 2016.

One of those not included was the experienced Bastian Schweinsteiger, who announced his international retirement on Friday.

Reports claim the midfielder, who turns 32 next week, will be the highest-profile victim of Mourinho's summer clear-out a little more than a year after he joined from Bayern Munich.

Defenders Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair, midfielders Adnan Januzaj and Andreas Pereira and forwards James Wilson and Will Keane make up the nine players whom Mourinho reportedly has no room for in the coming season.