Real Madrid Reportedly Declined Mino Raiola's Paul Pogba Offer

Real Madrid reportedly declined the chance to start negotiations with Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba recently.

According to Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, claims from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola that Pogba's agent, Mino Raiola, offered the player to City are true. It's added that other clubs were also made aware of the fact the Frenchman may be available.

"One of the other clubs that Raiola contacted was Real Madrid," noted Wahl. "The Spanish giants weren’t interested, partly because they feel like they dodged a bullet by not getting Pogba two years ago, and partly because they thought signing him now would throw the club’s salary structure out of whack."

Wahl said that Guardiola's quotes verified a Sports Illustrated report from February along the same lines that Pogba wants a move away from the Red Devils.

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Guardiola made the point ahead of the Manchester derby after being asked about recent criticism from Raiola. The City manager said the agent offered both Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who moved to Arsenal in January, to the Etihad Stadium outfit.

It was reported by L'Equipe (h/t Sport Witness) earlier this year that Pogba would be keen on a move to Real Madrid and had some regrets about joining United for a second stint:

Overall, Pogba has performed well in a United shirt, although he's not been the force in midfield many expected he would be when he joined from Juventus.

In many ways, his recent performance against Manchester City captured the essence of Pogba perfectly. In the first period, he stunk out the Etihad Stadium, but after the break, a devastating spell saw the Frenchman score two goals and put United en route to a memorable comeback win.

As noted by the BBC Match of the Day Twitter account, it was a devastating spell from the United man:

Sadly for United supporters, these bursts of poise, power and penetration come around sporadically. This season, in particular, there have been many occasions when matches pass Pogba by.

Earlier in the campaign, he was actually dropped by manager Jose Mourinho for the two UEFA Champions League clashes with Sevilla in the last 16 of the competition. Those decisions did little to cool any speculation about the midfielder's future.

You sense it'll linger on until the summer, although Madrid don't appear desperate for midfielders.

As James Gheerbrant of the Times noted, Los Blancos have a number of players in this area who perform to a high level:

United supporters won't be too concerned and will hope his display against Manchester City can be the catalyst for a strong end to the campaign.

Next season, there'll be big pressure on Pogba to perform in what will be his third season back at the club. Tactically, he would benefit from a little more help from his manager in terms of where he's played, but the onus will be on the Frenchman to be the consistent heartbeat of this side.