La Liga Leaks: Zidane talks Pogba, Atletico hopeful on Costa + Arsenal want Mustafi

And so the Paul Pogba saga rolls onto what feels like its 115th day. There has seemingly been little movement in the past 3-4 days but last night, Zinedine Zidane was asked whether it was possible he could sign for Real Madrid. “I don’t know. Until the 31st of August anything could happen. He still isn’t a Real Madrid player. We can’t talk about what might happen.” That “still” is a strange word to drop in there, perhaps revealing Madrid have made a bid for him?

Now this will set tongues wagging all over Europe and especially at Manchester United. Zidane was pushed further on the subject, but he didn’t want to say too much more. “Now isn’t the time to talk about it. Pogba interests everyone. He’s a great player and when you’re Madrid, you always want the best.”

Zidane was then later asked whether Madrid would need to sell James Rodriguez in order to fund a move for Pogba. His response was pretty clear: “James plays for Real Madrid. I’m not going to get involved in the ‘one must leave so another can arrive’ talk. James is going to stay at Real Madrid.“ Zidane then refused to talk more about the subject out of respect for Juventus as Pogba is, at present, still a Juventus player.

On the other side of city it appears Atletico Madrid’s transfer business is hotting up. Diego Simeone is keen to overhaul his forward line with the exception of Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres. Yesterday various outlets said a €30m deal had been agreed with Sevilla for Kevin Gameiro but AS report that they still want to sign Diego Costa. Chelsea’s interest in Romelu Lukaku has sparked suggestions they might consider selling Costa, but not until they have another striker in.

Plaza Deportiva say Arsenal have enquired about the services of Shkodran Mustafi after discovering Per Mertesacker could be out for up to five months. Mustafi feels he’s done as much as he can at Valencia and would be willing to take a step forward in his career should an offer come his way. However, after the sale of Andre Gomes to Barcelona, Valencia don’t need to sell and would demand €30m+ for their star defender. Arsenal have already been in contact with Mustafi’s people as to what it would cost to bring the German to the Emirates.

Other news and rumours:

- Barcelona’s search for a striker goes on. There are two lists: experienced strikers and young prospects. Newcastle United’s Ayoze Perez is a surprise inclusion in the latter. (SPORT)

- Unai Emery wants to sign a new striker at PSG but, with four non-EU players on the books already, it looks unlikely to be Carlos Bacca. (MARCA)

- Dani Parejo has decided he wants to leave Valencia and hopes the club will allow him to. Sevilla are keen but Los Che would prefer to sell him abroad. (Plaza Deportiva)

- Alexandre Pato has joined Villarreal for €3m according to Corinthians. Villarreal are yet to make an official statement themselves.

- Fernando Llorente has said ‘yes’ to a move to Real Sociedad. Now it’s up to them to negotiate a deal with Sevilla to make it happen. (Estadio Deportivo)