Pogba transfer fears revealed as Man United play hardball

Paul Pogba fears he could be priced out of a dream move to the Bernabeu [Courtesy]

Paul Pogba fears he could be priced out of a dream move to the Bernabeu – with Real Madrid facing a staggering £270million bill to sign him from Manchester United.

Madrid fear United will demand at least £150m for the 26-year-old World Cup winner who cost them £89m when he signed from Juventus three years ago.

On top of that Madrid will have to stump up £500,000-a-week in wages for the midfielder adding up to an eye-watering £26million-a-year.

With Pogba wanting at least a four year-contract, that amounts to a whopping £104million in wages over the term of his contract.

Pogba's controversial agent Mino Raiola is believed to be demanding at least 10 per cent of any fee between the clubs for brokering the deal - putting another £15million on the bill.

That adds up to a total package of £270million – a sum that has stopped Madrid in their tracks.

Bernabeu President Florentino Perez doesn't want to commit that amount of cash on Pogba – especially with Zinedine Zidane's future not totally assured.

Reports circulating in Spain suggest Perez would happily appoint Jose Mourinho if Madrid decide to part company with Zidane, who lost a pre-season friendly to rivals Atletico Madrid 7-3 in America recently.

If that is indeed Madrid's plan, it would kill any approach for Pogba who was called a “virus” by Mourinho during his time at Old Trafford.

Pogba missed United's final warm-up game of the season against AC Milan at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Saturday with the club claiming he had a slight injury.

But it is believed Pogba is getting twitchy with time running out before the English transfer window slams shut on Thursday.

United could still offload Pogba until the end of August to a foreign buyer – but United want a replacement by Thursday if Madrid are serious about making a move.