European Paper Review

Pricey Paul Pogba’s Potential Peregrination Prises Pokémon From Papers.

Paul Pogba remains this summer’s main transfer story, the saviour of sport editors which little to write about in the lull between the European championships ending and pre-season games. The former Manchester United player is linked most often to a return back to Manchester in the UK media. In Spain, Pogba is on the cover of Monday’s AS with the headline ‘Pogba. Madrid ask for patience.’ It explains that Pogba, who Madrid believes “dreams of playing under Zidane” needs to wait as the European champions work out how to finance “an exorbitant transfer fee of €120 million”. They also claim that that while “United are very close to closing out a deal for the Juventus midfielder – it’s almost in the bag - the player himself is not in any rush to sign. And there’s the added factor that United were guilty of undervaluing him a few years ago and let him go, but the great seducer Mourinho may have helped overcome that bad memory.”

Both AS and Marca think that Madrid will have to see a big name player to finance the deal, with that player most likely to be James Rodriguez. “James can be in a class of his own, but selling him could still help Real Madrid rescue Pogba deal,” opines Alfredo Relano in AS.

Madrid president Florentino Perez has in the past waited until the end of August to get deals done, but he’s under more pressure with Pogba because United started talks earlier with a view to getting the transfer dealings done soon rather than at the last minute on transfer deadline day.

Pogba is at Juventus, who themselves are trying to prise away the best player of their main rival last season, Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli. Monday’s Gazzetta dello Sport calls it ‘Higuain Day’ on their front page. ‘The attack by Juve begins. Napoli look at Milik.’ That’s Arkadiusz Milik, Ajax’s Polish striker who was excellent last term.

Pogba doesn’t make Gazzetta’s cover, but Claudio Ranieri does with a first big interview since winning the league with Leicester. “My Leicester must start from zero,” he explains. “Vardy made a decision like Gigi Riva. Conte and Chelsea were made for each other. Mou can be the next Ferguson. Juventus are on their own in Italy. Ventura is a teacher, he looks at youngsters.”

With players on holiday and clubs only slowly getting into their pre-season routines, the transfer rumour mill is in full swing in both Germany and France, with Pogba naturally prominent in France. L’Équipe reported on Sunday that PSG’s Blaise Matuidi could be José Mourinho’s plan B should United’s pursuit of the Juventus midfielder fail.

Elsewhere, France Football confirmed that Tottenham have beaten Hamburg, Sevilla and Bournemouth to the signing of Olympique Marseille midfielder Georges-Kévin Nkoudou. The magazine described the €13m (£10.8m) five-year deal as “great value.”

In Germany earlier this week, SportBILD reported that Manchester City had agreed a €50m (£41.8m) deal to sign highly-rated Schalke youngster Leroy Sané on a four-year contract. “Not bad for 11 minutes at the Euros!” observed Die Welt.

Local Ruhr-based newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) urged Schalke not to hesitate and to cash in on the 20-year-old. “As much as we love Sané, Schalke won’t reach the Champions League with him alone,” they wrote - and 89% of their readers agreed.

The fee would make Sané, who grew up in nearby industrial Essen, the most expensive German player of all time, a title currently held by Mesut Özil following his €47m move from Real Madrid to Arsenal in 2013. Last season, Sané scored eight goals and managed six assists which WAZ described as “good, but nothing spectacular.” This weekend however, Sky Germany reported that Bayern Munich and Real Madrid may be set to hijack the transfer.

The Bundesliga’s biggest spenders this summer are likely to be Borussia Dortmund. According to BILD, the German side are prepared to set a Bundesliga record by splashing out over €120m (£100m) after receiving a combined total of over €100m for Ilkay Gündogan, Mats Hummels and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

According to L’Équipe, Thomas Tuchel’s side have expressed an interest in Newcastle United’s French midfielder Moussa Sissoko, who enjoyed an impressive European Championships with Les Bleus. But despite their newfound spending power, SportBILD believe Dortmund are unlikely to compete with Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea when it comes to matching the relegated Magpies’ £35m valuation – which has already put off Hamburger SV.

A more likely - and more controversial – target for Borussia Dortmund is Mario Götze, who looks set to return to the Westfalenstadion. SportBILD reported last week that Dortmund have agreed a €28m (£23m) for the German international, having sold him to Bayern Munich for €37m in 2013.

The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, based in nearby Cologne, believe Götze’s return could be motivated by Dortmund’s interest in his friend André Schürrle - with whom Götze is currently on holiday in California. They see Schürrle - who netted nine times for a weak Wolfsburg side in the second half of last season – as an ideal replacement for the departed Mkhitaryan. The Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung confirmed Dortmund’s interest but said the Wolves would demand a high price, as they would for Julian Draxler whose agent has held talks with Arsenal according to BILD.

By returning to Dortmund, Götze is risking the wrath of the hardcore supporters on the Südtribüne who still regard the 24-year-old as a traitor. According to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, BVB chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke met with Dortmund fan groups who told him: “If he comes back – and he shouldn’t – the showmanship has to stop” – a reference to Götze’s reputation for posting photos of his luxury lifestyle on his Instagram. Götze may get an easier ride at away games, though, with Borussia Dortmund threatening to withdraw the ultras’ highly coveted ‘away season tickets’ after the club was hit by a €75,000 fine for the persistent use of pyrotechnics.