Manchester United Transfer News: Paul Pogba, Zinedine Zidane Phone Call Rumours

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has reportedly made a "desperate" attempt to prevent Juventus star Paul Pogba from joining Manchester United this summer after personally phoning the Frenchman. 

According to Spanish daily El Confidencial, Zidane made his plea to Pogba after it was reported on Thursday that Valencia's Andre Gomes will join Barcelona, despite strong links to the Santiago Bernabeu (h/t Sport Witness).

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

A move to Real seems unlikely, however, as president "Florentino Perez is said to not be a huge fan" of Pogba or his agent, Mino Raiola, who has already brought clients Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Old Trafford.

Despite the news of Gomes' surprise move to the Camp Nou, Squawka's Greg Johnson has reassured Manchester United fans the development doesn't mean Pogba is any less likely to move to Old Trafford:

Having said that, Madrid did appear to be most prominently linked with Gomes out of any European giant, and Zidane may well be forced to reassess his summer plans after learning the player won't be his.

Another factor in Los Blancos' summer spending is the fact they could soon sit out the next two transfer windows due to the transfer embargo they're scheduled to serve, per Yahoo's Andrew Gaffney:

BBC Sport reported in January that FIFA had suspended the bans placed upon both Real and Atletico Madrid in relation to the transfers of underage players.

With that in mind, this could be Real's last opportunity for some time to land any player, never mind competing for a landmark signing such as Pogba.

On one hand, Juventus chief Massimiliano Allegri has said he's "confident" about holding on to Pogba and told reporters that "when the window closes the team will be very strong."

However, Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho hinted at a move for Pogba when addressing the media this week, but he added that the club have other options available if they miss out on a deal expected to cost €120 million (£100 million):

"

I am not going to try to make you naive and believe that we are not trying for one player. You have smoke, you have fire - you used to say something like that, right? 

First of all, we know the player belongs to another club, which is not a small club. It is also a big club, one with economic power to fight for their best players, to try and keep their best players.

Apart from that, we know other clubs are also involved and for us it is not, 'are we going to win the race or lose the race?' It is not a race, it is just the market. When you go to the market, you have other options. You cannot focus on one, so we are in a very comfortable situation.

"

Zidane himself moved from Turin to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2001 before etching his name into Real Madrid folklore, and compatriot Pogba could yet be tempted into delaying his Juve exit to follow the same path.

However, Metro's Chris Winterburn has teased the idea that Raiola could still make either move happen, depending on who is willing to satisfy Juventus' valuation of the midfielder:

Backed by the massive revenue of the Premier League television rights deal, United look the more readily equipped to sanction a move for Pogba.

That being said, Zidane isn't ready to give up on his countryman just yet, it appears, and he's allegedly pulling out all the stops to make sure Pogba's next destination is Madrid.