Paul Pogba Offer from Barcelona Reportedly Rejected by Manchester United

Manchester United have reportedly turned down a transfer offer from Barcelona for midfielder Paul Pogba.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Sport Italia, the La Liga champions have offered €50 million (£44.6 million) as well as Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes for Pogba. However, the Red Devils are said to have rejected the approach.

"Pogba is an important piece in [Jose] Mourinho's plans, and the club greatly value his marketing potential, so the Red Devils have refused the ask," said Di Marzio. "Since the Premier League transfer window ends on August 9, United would not have sufficient time to find a replacement player."

According to Di Marzio, while Barcelona have strengthened their midfield already this summer with the signing of Arturo Vidal from Bayern Munich, they are still said to be seeking to add another star name in this area of the team.

It was reported by Jesus Burgos of Sport on Monday that Barcelona have a "dream" to reunite Pogba and Vidal in midfield, with the pair having previously thrived in tandem during their time together at Juventus.

As this point the interest from Barcelona does appear to be a little ambitious. As for the offer the Catalan club are said to have lodged, journalist Sam Pilger is unsurprised it was rejected by United:

Pogba became the most expensive player in the history of the game when he signed from United in 2016, and while he helped the team to the UEFA Europa League and the League Cup in his debut season, he hasn't been a huge success since coming back to Old Trafford for a second spell.

As relayed by Burgos, there has been plenty of speculation that the relationship between Pogba and manager Jose Mourinho has been spiky at times. The coach left the France international on the bench for some important games for the Red Devils late last season.

As noted by journalist Musa Okwonga, there have been some curious quotes from Mourinho about the player during the off-season too:

Still, most United fans will be desperate to see Pogba back in the famous red shirt after his stellar performances for France at the FIFA World Cup this summer.

The midfielder was at the heart of the team's success, knitting together attacks with his inventiveness on the ball and helping transition play with his trademark surges through midfield. The man himself said he was out to prove some doubters wrong:

At United, we've only seen flickers of this talent, with Pogba often looking laboured on the field and in systems that don't cater for his ability.

Pogba has shown for Juventus and France that in the right environment he can be a force to be reckoned with, and now Barcelona appear keen to shackle that talent too. The prospect of Pogba linking up with Vidal, Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Lionel Messi is exciting, but it'd be a huge shock if United sanctioned the sale of one of their most important players so late in the window.