Real Madrid have conceded defeat in the race to sign Juventus’ Paul Pogba and have now set their sights on Valencia’s Andre Gomes.
Los Blancos have dropped their interest in Juventus and French star Paul Pogba. They are unable to match up to Juventus’ asking price for the former Manchester United man.
According to SkySports, the Champions League winners are unable to compete with Manchester United, who are the only team who seem to be willing to meet Juventus’ figures, which along with his agent’s fees, are expected to go up to around £105 million [€123 million]. Apart from that fee, Pogba’s wages are expected to come up to around £250,000-a-week for 5 years.
The report further states that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is aware of his side’s inability to match up to Manchester United’s spending power and hence, has withdrawn from negotiations despite reports emerging of the 23-year-old favouring a move to Madrid.
Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola has helped see through the transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Old Trafford this summer and his good working relationship with the Red Devils’ is also an added advantage in their favour.
Instead, Real Madrid will reportedly turn their attentions to Barcelona, Manchester United, Juventus and Chelsea target Andre Gomes. The Portuguese was a part of his nation’s European Championship contingent which beat Pogba’s France in the final.
The Valencia star has gown in stature and skill over the course of the past two years and is now one of the finest play makers in Spain. An extremely exciting prospect, Gomes has already won titles with Benfica at an early age and last night, he was crowned European Champion with Portugal. Reports had emerged earlier of Real being interested in the young midfielder, but now after giving up on Pogba, they will be sure to step up their interest as they pursue him.
Barcelona were reportedly willing to offload Arda Turan in order to raise funds and make space for the highly-rated Gomes. Juventus, who are losing Paul Pogba are also looking to replace him with Gomes, who is of the same age as the Frenchman.
Deposed Premier League Champions Chelsea were reported to have already had a bid worth £32 million for Gomes rejected by Los Che, who want a reported £42 million for their star man, with the price expected to increase post his European success. That fee should be no issue for Real Madrid, should they wish to strengthen, and while Gomes may not be as good as Pogba, the young Portuguese is a hugely exciting prospect who could be Modric’s long term replacement.
