United bid for Pogba

LONDON. — Manchester United have made a British transfer record bid of £60million for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba. SunSport can reveal that Jose Mourinho sanctioned the offer this week as the Old Trafford club seek to beat Barcelona to the 23-year-old’s signature. Mourinho sees the French powerhouse as the first brick in his planned United rebuild, even though Pogba walked out on United for nothing four years ago.

United’s offer is worth an initial £48m fee plus £12m more in add-on payments based on United’s success and Pogba’s appearances. That adds up to slightly more than the £59.7m they paid for Argentine flop Angel Di Maria in 2014.

Mourinho has a track record of signing retreads, after persuading Chelsea to spend £25m on Nemanja Matic in 2014, three years after he left for Benfica as the makeweight in the deal to land David Luiz.

The Portuguese sees Pogba’s passing range, tenacity and intelligence as the ideal fulcrum for his new-look United team. Italian champions Juventus have yet to respond to the offer though it is understood the club are increasingly resigned to losing their star player.

Pogba has indicated that he feels he has achieved everything he can at Juve having won four straight Serie A titles and now wants and new challenge where he believes he can win more honours.

The France international has left his future in the hands of agent, Mino Raiola, who has been listening to offers for him for the past three months.

Pogba left United for Turin in 2012 under freedom of contract after failing to establish himself in the first team at Old Trafford.

Then manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, accused the player of “disrespecting Manchester United” with his actions.

SunSport understands that Mourinho’s appointment as Louis Van Gaal’s successor and the challenge of making United great again are very appealing to Pogba.

United are hopeful of reaching an agreement with player and club before the start of pre-season training in July.

Meanwhile, David de Gea is relishing the chance to play under Mourinho at Manchester United.

The ex-Chelsea chief last week signed a mega-money contract keeping him with 20-time English champions until June 2019.

And United’s star goalkeeper De Gea has welcomed the Special One to Old Trafford.

“To speak of Jose Mourinho is to talk about a winning coach and that is United’s philosophy and mine,” De Gea told Marca.

“With that idea in mind, I’m certain we can build a great team. I welcome him.”

De Gea was close to leaving United last summer but his marquee move to Real Madrid spectacularly fell through after a cock-up with paperwork.

He signed a new contract with United this season but speculation about his future has continued.

“There’s a lot of talk but little is known,” De Gea added.

“I understand how things work but what I feel is disrespectful is for someone to speak on my behalf.

“I have three further years left on my contract with United and I’m enthusiastic to win titles there.”

Titles have been scarce for De Gea since the Spaniard moved to United from Atletico Madrid in 2011.

The 25-year-old did lift the FA Cup last term to add to his Premier League crown from the 2012-13 season.

De Gea hopes their victory over Crystal Palace at Wembley last month can set United back on their way to more silverware in the coming years.

“When you speak of United nothing is enough if you don’t win every title,” De Gea said.

“Not qualifying to the Champions League was a big blow but we have won the FA Cup after 12 years, and after three years without lifting a trophy.

“We must value this because it’s a very important trophy for the fans. This FA Cup should be the launchpad for the club to win important titles.”

And Anthony Martial earns £68 000 a week at Manchester United but he is already agitating for a new contract.

He agreed to a deal that runs until 2019 when he arrived last summer.

Since then he has scored 17 times for United, with many coming from his unfamiliar position out on the left.

Mourinho has already approved contracts for Marcus Rashford and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.

Soon United’s new boss will get a tap on the door from Martial with a demand to break the £100 000-a-week barrier.

England captain Wayne Rooney earns close to £300 000 a week and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is not far behind.

Although Martial cannot command those salaries, he wants a raise. — The Sun