By Tom Sanders
Zinedine Zidane is prepared to pull out all the stops to lure Paul Pogba from Manchester United in January, with the Madrid boss looking to offer £85m plus Gareth Bale in a mammoth swap deal.
Zidane has been looking to offload the out-of-favour Welshman ever since he arrived at the Bernabau, and has been desperate to sign Paul Pogba.
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Real spent most of the summer chasing Pogba, but the club were ultimately unable to meet United's £180 million valuation for the player, especially after breaking the bank to sign Eden Hazard from Chelsea in a deal rumoured to be around £150 million.
Zidane and Real chief Florentino Perez have reportedly been at loggerheads all summer trying to secure a new Galactico for Madrid's midfield, with Zidane insisting on Pogba but Perez said to be more keen on securing a cheap replacement, with Tottenham's Christian Eriksen currently the chairman's preferred choice.
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With United struggling for form in front of goal this season and Bale becoming increasingly unsettled at Madrid after never seeing eye-to-eye with Zidane, this could be a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Bale was set to move to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning in the summer in a move that would've seen the Welshman earn over £1 million a week, although the deal was cancelled at the last minute by Perez.
But considering that Bale has only played once this season and is becoming an increasingly peripheral figure at the Bernabau, rumours are that Perez is prepared to let Zidane have his own way and use Bale to land Pogba.
Pogba is currently out injured with an ankle problem and did not travel to Belgrade for United's Europa League match in midweek.
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He spent time in Dubai doing some warm-weather training during the international break to try to regain fitness, but did not recover in time.
Further adding to recent transfer speculation, Pogba was seen meeting with Zidane while in Dubai.
Pogba has also made no secret of his desire to play for Madrid, admitting several times that Zidane was his role model when he was younger.
Pogba's contract expires in 2021, at which point he will have spent five years at United. If ever there was a point that a transfer looked feasible, now is the time.
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Topics: zidane, Manchester United, Pogba, Man United, Real Madrid