Any newcomers to football watching the Euro 2016 final may have been shocked to discover that Paul Pogba was on the verge of a £103m move from Juventus to Manchester United.
Real Madrid have apparently pulled out of the running for the French midfielder. What looked like turning into a bidding war has ended up with United gazumping themselves and looking foolish as Euro 2016 progressed.
Pogba was deployed as a defensive shield as soon as Didier Deschamps withdrew N'Golo Kante from the fray. He lit up the tournament with some trickery on the wing in the lead-up to Antoine Griezmann's second goal against Germany but that was the high-water mark.
The 23-year-old let Sunday's final get away from him and rarely troubled eventual winners Portugal.
One player that did leave everything out on the Stade de France pitch was Moussa Sissoko. The Newcastle United midfielder was France's driving force in the first half and drew two good saves from Rui Patricio. He also came close with a burst from midfield and a rising pile-driver that just whizzed over.
https://twitter.com/Atterby7/status/752262284957876224
Sissoko is contracted with the Magpies for another two years but is desperate to secure a move away, hopefully to a team in the Champions League. Manchester United are in the Europa League but the 26-year-old will take that too.
French outlet
Le 10 Sport, are reporting that Sissoko now finds himself in the middle of the Pogba transfer. United boss Jose Mourinho apparently noted how well Sissoko played in both the semi-final and final. Newcastle have upped their original £20m asking price for the midfielder but United would be confident at bringing him in for under £30m.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/752555798966964227
However, were United to push ahead with their reported £103m bid for Pogba, Juventus would then replace one French midfielder for another.
Were Juventus to swap Pogba for Sissoko and come out £70m on top, it could be one of the deals of the summer.
Plan B is starting to sound good, to both sets of supporters.
