On Sunday night, Manchester United officially announced former player Paul Pogba would be transferred back to the club pending a medical for a fee in excess of €100 million.
The Frenchman would leave Juventus, in what would be not only be the highest paid transfer of all time but also the highest profiting after Pogba joined the Italian champions in 2012 for a mere €800,000.
With Juventus looking to build for a Champions League crown, the Old Lady have quickly turned their attention towards a replacement for the departing midfielder. Here, we will analyse a few options.
Blaise Matuidi
The most rumoured replacement for Pogba so far. Twenty-nine-year-old Matuidi is already in talks with Juve over a possible move with a fee in the region of €20-30 million being touted. Matuidi offers a very different skill-set to Pogba though he would likely be deployed in the same position to the left of the midfield three.
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With Miralem Pjanic brought into the Juventus setup, they have a player capable of providing an attacking threat and covering the void left by Pogba in terms of assists. Matuidi would come in as a defensive midfielder, someone who will break up play and provide a strong defensive contribution as well as an intense work rate.
Nemanja Matic
A player that has been admired by Juve for a long time. Twenty-eight-year-old Matic is an imposing figure in midfield, standing at 194 centimetres, slightly taller than Pogba. The Serb possess strong skills on the ball and has been commended for his consistency at Chelsea.
Matic could provide the ideal cover for Claudio Marchisio and Pjanic, two midfielders who cannot be totally relied upon in terms of providing defensive cover and strong tackling. Matic represents the sort of combativeness that is so distinct with this Juve squad but will take plenty of convincing given new Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is a big fan of the Serbian.
Axel Witsel
Axel Witsel, the go-to man for Italian media when it comes to transfer speculation. Witsel has been linked with a move to Italy for what feels like an eternity with a transfer to a number of clubs including Inter, AC Milan and Napoli never really materialising. The 27-year-old old has spent most of his career at Standard Liege in Belgium’s first division before making the move to Benfica where he remained for only one season. In 2012, Witsel signed a five-year contract with Zenit St Petersburg for a €40 million transfer fee, providing 15 goals from midfield.
The Belgian has made a name for himself in Russia, retaining his spot in the national team setup and gathering plenty of interest from clubs across Europe for his ability to play the ball and win the aerial battle.
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