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LONDON — Barcelona have confirmed that they passed up their first option on Paul Pogba — allowing Manchester United to break the world transfer record this summer.
The Nou Camp club were understood to have agreed a deal 12 months ago that would give them priority should they wish to sign the 22-year-old for £85 million, but they informed Juventus in February that they wouldn’t be exercising their option.
And Albert Soler, the club’s director of sporting relations, moved to clarify that Pogba could have been a Barcelona player today had they wanted to follow through on the deal.
“Last year we reached a deal with Juventus for us to have a priority option when they sold Pogba,” he said.
“This summer we decided that there were players that suited us better on a sporting level.
“The idea of the board was that nobody would be able to get ahead of us in the market.
“It allowed us to have options.”
In the end the club went for the cheaper option of Valencia midfielder Andre Gomes, a player of the same age as Pogba but one who is considered more suited to Barca’s style of play.
With the money they saved on the France international, they also managed to add Paco Alcacer, Denis Suarez, Lucas Digne and Samuel Umtiti. — The Mirror
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter