Manchester United have thrashed out a huge financial package with Paul Pogba as his record-breaking move from Juventus inches closer.
According to Daily Mail the central midfielder has agreed terms on a prospective five-year contract worth £220,000 a week.
Juventus rejected an improved offer of £92million from United, and the Italian club are demanding that any deal leaves them with a clear £100m after United pay Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola his agreed 20 per cent bonus.
In an effort to make him stay, however, Juventus are believed to be ready to offer Pogba a substantial increase on his current £72,000 a week. But their resolve to hold on to the star is to be severely tested as United step up their efforts to sign him.
Pogba deliberated long and hard over his future during the European Championship but has since made up his mind to leave Turin and rejoin the club he left acrimoniously in 2012.
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has convinced the 23-year-old and his agent, Mino Raiola, that joining the excitement surrounding Jose Mourinho’s new dawn at Old Trafford is worth sacrificing a season of Champions League football for.
Woodward was not on Tuesday afternoon’s flight to China for this summer’s pre-season tour, with his priority firmly on negotiating the most high- profile transfer in the club’s history.
Pogba’s heart was initially set on leaving for Real Madrid but Florentino Perez — president at the Bernabeu — held reservations about the scale of transfer fee and wages required to land him.
That gave United a clear run and reports suggest Pogba is now on the hunt for a property in Prestbury, an exclusive Cheshire village.
Juventus are desperate not to lose their talisman, although they have made a number of prominent signings this summer to cushion any potential blow. Pogba (right) is on holiday in Miami alongside another of Raiola’s clients, Romelu Lukaku.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also thought to have secured himself a mansion in Prestbury.
Woodward recognises the commercial value Pogba would bring to United. Last month SportsPro magazine ranked him as the second most marketable sportsman in the world, behind NBA superstar Stephen Curry and ahead of third-placed India batsman Virat Kohli.
He also endorses adidas, whose 10-year sponsorship deal with United worth £750m began at the start of last season.
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