Barcelona set to sign Neymar with 'Plan B', Real Madrid's interest in Van de Beek confirmed as Solskjaer confirms Pogba stance and more: Transfer Roundup, 4 August 2019

Van de Beek confirms Real Madrid talks, Ole confirms Pogba will stay at Manchester United

Van de Beek celebrates after scoring against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg

It has been confirmed by none other than Donny Van de Beek himself that Real Madrid have entered into talks to sign him from Ajax.

Speaking after Ajax's 2-2 draw with Vitesse in the first Eredivisie game of the season, Van de Beek said,

"It is true that Madrid are in talks with Ajax, but I can't say any more."

"My agent will have spoken with them. Real Madrid are a great club to play for, but Ajax are still a great club. We'll see what happens."

Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed that Pogba will remain a Manchester United player beyond the summer. On being asked whether Pogba missing the trip to Cardiff is a question on his commitment to the club, Ole said:

"I have no doubts at all. I wasn't expecting him [on the plane]. I spoke to him after training and he didn't feel right.

"Paul will probably be back early next week training. It's not an injury, he just felt some pain. We didn't want to risk anything this weekend and he should be OK for Chelsea. I hope so."

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram