Manchester United Transfer News: Latest Rumours, Targets During Summer Window

Manchester United are reportedly ready to pay a world-record £100 million to convince Paul Pogba to return to Old Trafford rather than pursue a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Signing the Juventus midfield linchpin remains United's "priority" this summer, according to Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News, who also broke down Madrid's dwindling interest by citing reports from Spain: "The 23-year-old is understood to prefer a transfer to Real Madrid but the Spanish club seem to have cooled their interest in recent weeks, with both Marca and AS running lines on N'Golo Kante to Real and suggesting Jose Mourinho has given United the 'advantage' in the Pogba pursuit."

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

If this deal went through, Pogba would become "the first £100 million footballer," according to Joe Bernstein of MailOnline.

Bernstein also described how United have the advantage over other suitors, including Real: "But the Old Trafford club—who are less affected by financial fairplay rules because of their huge commercial revenues—are prepared to pay a price that will smash the £86m paid by Real Madrid for Gareth Bale in 2013, and hand Pogba £250,000 a week."

However, this goes against an exclusive from Sunni Upal of the Sun, who stated the midfielder would favour a move to La Liga: "Pogba would prefer a move to either Spanish giants Real Madrid or Barcelona."

Upal even reported Pogba would not choose United, the club with whom he barely played as a promising youth product, if he decided to return to England's top flight: "But should Pogba end up moving to the Premier League, the Frenchman would rather link up with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City than their rivals across town."

But Bernstein noted City, Paris Saint-Germain and Los Blancos have all been "scared off" by Juve's demands.

Still, a United return might not be so easy to pull off considering the way Pogba left Old Trafford in 2012. It came amid some acrimony with then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who told MUTV (h/t BBC Sport): "I don't think he showed us any respect at all so, to be honest, I'm quite happy."

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By contrast, the idea of Pogba joining Real Madrid has gathered steam since his father, Fassou Antoine Pogba, recently dubbed the proposal "interesting" during an interview with television station Cuatro (h/t Marco Ruiz of AS, via ESPN FC).

Pogba makes sense as a target for every top club in Europe. His blend of strength and skill is enticing, but finding the best position for those attributes remains a challenge.

Mourinho would likely see the long-striding Frenchman as the natural link between Wayne Rooney and a deeper, holding player in a midfield three. It's a combination that would give the Red Devils perfect balance in the middle.

From there, Pogba would be able to make the box-to-box gallops that show off his best qualities. He would also be the natural point of focus for transitioning defending into rapid breaks, a key role in the counter-attacking style Mourinho loves.

However, with so many other big clubs likely to vie for the 23-year-old should he decide to leave Juve, this could be a summer too soon for United to try to bring back the one who got away.