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Manchester United will open talks with Paul Pogba about a new deal at the club.
But, whilst they want him to stay, they are taking nothing for granted, and are preparing for life without him if no agreement can be reached.
They will offer him £400,000 a week, which will make him the highest earner at the club, but, if he decides not to accept it, then they will sell him this summer rather than allow him to walk way for free when his contact ends in a year’ time.
And as a back-up, the club have already drawn up a shortlist of three players who might replace him. Top of that list is West Ham’s Declan Rice, although price may be an issue in his case. A cheaper alternative may be Leicester’s Wilfred Ngidi, whilst the third name on the list is Saul Ñiguez of Atlético Madrid, who is the most attack minded of the three and the closest to Pogba in terms of playing style.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.