Barcelona Transfer News: Paul Pogba Rumours Rubbished After Arda Turan Deal

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has denied reports the club will try to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus this summer.

"We will not buy Pogba this year," said Bartomeu, as reported by Tom Adams of Eurosport. "We are not planning with him for next season. He is not part of our sporting plans for 2015-16 at this stage."

This comment comes shortly after Juve were said to have rejected the Blaugrana's €80 million approach for Pogba, reported Gazette Dello Sport (h/t Football Italia).

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Bartomeu has massively changed his tune since June 8, when he suggested Pogba was a key target for the European champions: "It is true that Pogba is a leading target of ours and obviously we are interested, but I can't say anything more," he said, reported Telefoot (h/t ESPN).

Pogba's potential appearance at the club could depend on whether Bartomeu retains his presidential post in Barca's elections on July 18. He stands against former president Joan Laporta, who thinks "Pogba would be one of the best additions," as he told Catalunya Radio (h/t AS) on June 25.

Laporta recently lamented the club's decision to meet with Juve officials, saying their inability to sign the French midfielder was a "failure" which "made Barcelona look bad," per Cadena SER (h/t Goal.com). An initial report from Sport (h/t B/R UK) suggested a deal was in place for Pogba to join in the summer of 2016, after Barca's current transfer ban concludes.

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Juve CEO Giuseppe Marotta believes Pogba will remain in Turin next season, as noted by Sky Italia (h/t Marc Williams of the Daily Star): "Pogba? Many words have been said, but Juventus don't let their most important players go. He's a player who will be part of the group of next season."

Even so, club president Andrea Agnelli remained philosophical when questioned over the departure of his top stars such as Pogba and Arturo Vidal: "Nothing is 100 percent in football, players are not for sale starting from September 1," Agnelli said. "Some years ago we said [Christian] Vieri was not for sale and he went to Atletico Madrid few days after."

This situation is likely to drag on. It's fair to suggest Bartomeu and Laporta are using Pogba's name to jostle ahead of the club's elections. The latter previously promised to sign David Beckham before he was elected in 2003, only to land Ronaldinho when the Englishman chose to join Real Madrid.

Barca confirmed the signing of versatile Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan on Monday:

However, he can be sold back to the Rojiblancos if the next elected president doesn't want him at the club, per Adams.

The Turkish midfielder adds further combativeness to Luis Enrique's squad, much like Ivan Rakitic did last summer. The side's added ability to compete in tough, physical matches played a huge role in their treble-winning season.

Pogba would only galvanise this further without sacrificing technical quality. He is an avid competitor when the ball's in his vicinity, as proven against Barca during the recent Champions League final. His talent can be seen below:

The 22-year-old would learn to improve his ball retention under Enrique—he completed 83.8 percent of his Serie A passes last season, per WhoScored.com—while playing a leading role behind the world's most potent front three in Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. 

Bartomeu's change of heart offers a strange twist to the story. Barca previously gave every indication Pogba was a target, but it seems the current president is back-tracking now a huge bid has been turned down. Expect the roller coaster to speed up as the elections approach.