Transfer Talk: United won't let Pogba go without formal transfer request

Steve Nicol says Manchester United’s struggles in 2018/19 have been unfairly put on Paul Pogba amid rumours he wants to leave the club this summer.

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TOP STORY: United demand transfer request for Pogba exit

The Paul Pogba to Real Madrid saga has taken another turn, as Manchester United have told the Frenchman that he must hand in a formal transfer request if he wants to get the move, according to The Sun.

As Zinedine Zidane begins to rebuild his side at Real Madrid, he has warned his countryman that it’s a case of now or never to join him in Spain.

And while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reportedly conceded to the fact that Pogba does not want to be playing football in Manchester anymore, United’s executive vice chairman Ed Woodward insists that losing the club’s record signing would only harm their reputation further after failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

What that means for Pogba is that he will have to try to force his way out by handing in a transfer request — an end that would certainly leave a nasty tarnish on his second stint in the Premier League.

If Paul Pogba wants to leave Old Trafford, he might need to hand in a transfer request.

Gunners target Carrasco issues plea

Former Atletico Madrid winger Yannick Carrasco has opened up on transfer speculation that surrounded him in January and said that a move to Arsenal this summer is possible, as reported by The Sun.

Carrasco spent the 2018-19 season at Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang, a club he was told he couldn’t leave in the January transfer window. Commenting on his future, Carrasco said he hopes the situation has changed: “There was interest from Arsenal and I had a lot of teams in January giving me the chance to go back to Europe, but here the president said it was difficult to go then.

“Maybe this summer it is possible. If it is a good thing and I want to go, maybe I can speak with the president.”

Arsenal salivating over Saliba

Saint-Etienne centre-back William Saliba is at the top of Arsenal’s transfer shortlist for this summer, Goal understands.

The teenager has made 17 appearances in Ligue 1 this season, most recently in a comfortable 3-0 win over Nice on Saturday, and has already drawn comparisons to Raphael Varane.

Arsenal conceded 51 goals in the Premier League in the 2018-19 season — the second worst record in the division’s top nine teams after Manchester United — so Saliba’s position is clearly one that needs addressing at Emirates Stadium.

Understandably, Manchester United have also been linked with the player in the past, but the reports indicate no fresh interest from them.

Tap-ins

– Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Moussa Sissoko has thrown his future into question by telling the media that “anything can happen in football very quickly.”

“At the end of the season, it could be that [Spurs] have a new project, that a new coach comes, and he doesn’t count on me, he wants to sell me,” he added.

– Amid interest from Manchester United and Arsenal, the Nicolas Pepe will leave Lille in the summer. Manager Christophe Galtier, who just won the Ligue 1 Manager of the Year award, said: “Nicolas Pepe will leave. Life’s like that, football’s like that today. He is a player of the highest level who will have a big decision to make on the choice of his next club. There will be a battle between the great European teams.”