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The Transfer Deadline Day is upon us and while Manchester United are scrambling to reinforce the defence and the right wing, there is a disturbing news doing the rounds in the social media.
Apparently, Paul Pogba wants to move to Barcelona and has informed the club of his desires. This comes as a blow at the end of the transfer window, as if the reports are true, United have very little time to rein in reinforcements for a very important player.
The main reason behind Pogba's decision to leave seems to be his differences with Jose Mourinho. Mourinho had criticized Pogba last season and even benched the French midfielder when he was performing poorly.
However, the last straw seems to have been Mourinho's recent criticism of Pogba's performances in the World Cup, which left the former Juventus Midfielder furious. Since the World Cup, Pogba has continued his deserved post world cup rest, even though his club was fighting to put out 11 players on the pitch in the pre-season games.
There were reports that Mino Raiola, Pogba's agent, was trying his best to sell him to Barcelona, as the Catalan side had a bid of £44.6million plus Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes rejected by United.
The transfer market is on fire with various kinds of news now, with one report claiming that Pogba has accepted terms with Barcelona, with the player reportedly agreeing a deal that would see him earn £100m over a span of five years.
However, the Independent are now claiming that in case Barcelona fail to get their man by 9th August, they will come back in the winter window, in a deal similar to the signing of Coutinho from Liverpool.
In every possible situation, it is essential that Manchester United are prepared and are ready with a plan to replace their talisman if he does move out of Old Trafford and United could choose between three prolific replacement who have the talents to surpass Pogba at Manchester United
#3 Marco Verratti
The Italian currently plays at PSG, where he joined at 2012. He has won 5 Ligue 1 trophies, 3 Coupe de France, 5 Coupe de la Ligue and 6 Trophee des Champions. He has played 239 games for PSG, but scored only 8 goals, a part of his game that he will definitely look to improve.
Verratti has a low centre of gravity, which gives him the ability to keep close control of the ball in tight spaces. He is also technically gifted, with good dribbling skills and is excellent on the ball. His passing range is fabulous, he is capable of both long and shot passes and his accurate long balls to the strikers and wide men frequently clear up defences.
Verratti is a dynamic playmaker, who can play in different positions in the midfield, he can defend, he can win the ball and he can thread passes and he is equally good at all of them. And he does not turn 26 until November of this year, so he is entering the peak years of his career.
Verratti is a perfect all-round footballer if there ever was one and Manchester United could look at him to fill the gap that Pogba leaves behind if he moves away.
What the Papers say
Manchester United were reportedly looking at Verratti at one point of time. However, there are no recent updates about the playmaker shifting to Old Trafford.
#2 Thiago Alcantara
The ex-Barcelona player is currently the midfield maestro at Bayern Munich and in the recent friendly played at the Allianz Arena, Thiago gave Manchester United a look at what they were missing.
Thiago is 27 years old and is in the prime of his career. He joined Bayern from Barcelona in 2013 and has 151 appearances for Bayern, scoring 25 goals. At Bayern, he has won 5 Bundesliga, 1 DFB-Pokal, 1 DFL-Supercup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.
Thiago is extremely gifted, with superb dribbling skills and a highly technical style of play. He is basically a playmaker, and he excels in both the deep playmaking role as well as the more attack-minded player.
His ball control is exquisite and his passing sense is extremely accurate. He rarely mispasses a ball even when attempting cross-field passes and he is amazing in both short and long passes. He also has a very high passing accuracy rate.
His ball distribution skills would delight United, as they look for someone to lead their midfield and bring the forwards and the wide men into the attack. Technically, Thiago would be a superb replacement to Pogba, as the Spaniard at par with the Frenchman in terms of quality, if not even better, and bringing him to Old Trafford would be a coup of sorts for Manchester United.
What the Papers say
Real Madrid are reportedly interested in him. Chelsea and Manchester United were both keen on getting Thiago, however, there have been no developments of late.
#1 Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
The Serbian Midfielder was recently seen in the World Cup along with Manchester United midfield marshall Nemanja Matic and it was reported that Matic was trying to convince his International teammate to become his club teammate. Those rumours seemed to have lost steam after the World Cup, but one cannot deny that the Serbian would be a perfect replacement for Pogba. In fact, Lazio President has even claimed that the Serbian is better than Pogba and it is hard not to agree.
Milinkovic-Savic is only 23 years old and he is already the midfield kingpin of his club and his country. He joined Lazio in 2015 and took the World by storm in a few years, scoring 25 goals in 122 appearances.
He is a technically gifted midfielder who has a ferocious volley in him and he is a very strong attacking midfielder, with fantastic finishing abilities, but he also has the strength and the physic that makes him an asset defensively and it is not hard to see why Mourinho fancies him.
He would be a perfect fit for Manchester United, and in the event that Pogba actually leaves for Barcelona, Manchester United should go all out for the Lazio man.
What the Papers say
Manchester United already have a bid of €100m rejected by Lazio. Now, Lazio President has come out and said that only a World Record bid could wrestle the midfielder away from his club. Expect this one to go down to the wire.
