Manchester United should play Real Madrid at their own game
By Kian Long
Manchester United mustn’t continue to let themselves be bullied by the likes of Real Madrid…
Look, times have changed, I’m fully aware of that. Manchester United are not the club they used to be when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge. However, they still possess a similar economic prowess as they are one of the richest clubs in the world, largely due to their worldwide following.
This is why it’s never a surprise to see the Red Devils active in the transfer window. They are always joining other big European clubs in pursuing the biggest and most expensive names. This time around, they are looking to the footballing capital to sign Real Madrid’s most promising midfielder.
However, according to the Mirror, they have taken a severe knockback in this pursuit. Jacque Talbot has reported that Real Madrid will slap a whopping £450m price tag on their youngster Federico Valverde. This is a fee that not even Manchester United would be willing to pay.
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So, how do they go about it? Do they just walk away like a bullied child with their shoulders shrugged? No, absolutely not. This is not the football club Sir Alex retired with and it’s certainly not the club fans want to see.
They need to be more resilient and they need to fight back. How so? Well, use Paul Pogba as a pawn. I know, it’s petty, right? But it’s not much pettier than putting an unpayable price tag on an in-demand player.
After all, Real Madrid want to sign Pogba, right? They’ve made this no secret as Zinedine Zidane is a known advocate of his countryman. Consequently, what’s stopping Manchester United from putting a similar price tag on him, or even using him in a bid for Valverde?
After all, there is a clause in Pogba’s contract which allows the Red Devils to extend his contract for a further year. I recently claimed this would be a silly idea but hey, they could easily do this as a means to bump up Pogba’s price tag, even if they know he won’t stay.
Two can play at that game, Real Madrid.
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Do you think Manchester United will ever be able to sign Federico Valverde?