Barcelona manager, Ernesto Valverde, has reacted to reports that the club was closed to signing Manchester United midfielder, Paul Pogba.
Valverde has praised the World Cup winner amid rumours that Barcelona were hoping to sign the Frenchman before the transfer window closes.
Pogba is currently on holiday after his World Cup exploits, having resisted United manager, Jose Mourinho’s plea to return early.
Reports emerged recently that Pogba had used his time off to meet with Barca Sporting Director, Eric Abidal in Los Angeles, with the Catalan club seeing the Frenchman as the ideal signing to fill the void left by Andres Iniesta.
Valverde did little to play down the speculations at a press conference ahead of Barca’s pre-season friendly clash with AC Milan in Santa Clara.
He said, “Pogba is a great player, who is on another team and we are always very respectful of the players on other teams. We respect the player and the teams they are on.
“Is the transfer market closed for signing more players? We’ll see how the market is going, but I’m the coach and my idea is to take advantage of the players we have.”
Although, the deadline for Premier League transfers is Thursday, foreign clubs are free to make signings up until the end of the month.
Commenti