Transfer News: Juventus Hints Pogba Move

Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has hinted that young football star Paul Pogba could leave the club this summer. The French international’s future with the club has been in doubt for the last few months after several reports surfaced about Pogba being courted by several clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City, and Barcelona FC.

Agnelli has lowered his expectations of retaining Pogba with Juventus beyond the close of the transfer window. He was moved by the uncertainty of players in football and cited past experiences about unexpected transfers in the club’s history.

"Nothing is 100 per cent in football, players are not for sale starting from September 1. Some years ago we said [Christian] Vieri was not for sale and he went to Atletico Madrid few days after...,” Agnelli said as per Goal.com.

In contrast to Agnelli’s statement was Juventus director general Giuseppe Marotta, who has been adamant about keeping one of their best players in Turin, saying that “the transfer market [for us] closes here today.” He also dismissed the rumours surrounding Arturo Vidal, who had recently helped Chile to win its first Copa America title in nearly a hundred years after beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina via penalty shootout.

"We moved before other clubs for our main objectives. The transfer market [for us] closes here today. The squad is competitive, there are two players for every position, so we think it's competitive. The Vidal talk is just rumours, we have a good relationship with Real [Madrid, linked with the player], but these rumours are utopian. As for Pogba, I've already spent so much time talking about this - Juventus will not sell the best players in our squad,” Marotta said via Sportsmole.co.uk.

The Italian champions denied reports last week that the club was willing to sell Pogba to Barcelona for a whopping €80 million. Barca director Alberto Soler flew to Italy for a meeting with Marotta to open the bid for acquiring Pogba, but the latter rejected the offer adding that “Juventus do not want to sell Pogba.”

Meanwhile, former Manchester City manager Joe Royle has questioned Pogba’s £70 million price tag saying he has yet to see the money’s worth in the Juventus star according to Hitc.com. Royle has no doubt that Pogba is a top player, “but £70m, wow, I haven’t seen that to be honest.”