Manchester United’s Paul Pogba transfer hinges on offering Juan Mata to Juventus as bait – with Villarreal also keen on Spaniard
MANCHESTER UNITED have offered Juan Mata to Juventus as bait in a cash-and-swap deal to get the Paul Pogba deal over the line.
But now Villarreal have also waded into the hunt for Mata, with United keen to recoup their investment in the Spaniard.
United are front-runners to land the France international, who left the club in 2012 for nothing – and will take a £100million hit for their mistake four years ago.
Mata, 28, was sold by Jose Mourinho 2½ years ago when he was in his second stint as Chelsea boss and is not keen on working with the Spaniard again.
He was not part of Vicente del Bosque’s La Roja squad for Euro 2016 and has reported back for training after a summer off, spent in his homeland.
Antonio Valencia posted a picture of himself Mata and Ander Herrera back at training at United’s Carrington training base.
But Mata’s days look numbered at Old Trafford and according to reports, Mourinho is happy for Ed Woodward to use the player as makeweight for marquee signing Pogba.
Villarreal and Everton are also keen to bring him in under Ronald Koeman’s new regime.
That means Mata faces a choice over which league he wants to play in: England, Spain or Italy.
As SunSport revealed this morning, Pogba is still to make a decision over his future – with a choice between United and linking up with France legend Zinedine Zidane at European champs Real Madrid.
Juventus are already lining up his replacement in Turin and, unlike United, both Juve and Real can offer Champions League football next term.
The 11-time European Cup winners, who lifted the trophy in May, have reportedly ended their interest in Pogba, with the price deemed to high by chief Florentino Perez.
Another big driving force behind the transfer is the super agent Mino Raiola – who also looks after the interests of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Pogba has been on parade with the French team in Paris, to thank the public for their support despite losing the Euro 2016 final to Portugal.