Deal Agreed: Midfielder now due for Manchester United medical – report

To say that this deal has been inching towards a conclusion would be somewhat hyperbolic. Because, over the last week, it has sometimes felt more like a millimetre at a time.

But we may be about to see an official announcement on Friday as The Daily Mail reports:

Paul Pogba set for Manchester United medical after nigh-on £100m transfer with Juventus is agreed

Pogba is due to have a medical in Los Angeles after his recent holiday in Florida before signing a five-year contract worth £290,000 a week.

Some finer points of the transaction may still be in negotiation as the ever canny Italians apparently want to announce the deal as being for £84.3m in order to save a bit of tax.

But it will surely be seen as a world record transfer when all is said and done.

The last stumbling block, the agent fees due to Mino Raiola, appear to have been ironed out and Juventus have relented to a degree on this, according to the report which states that some of that vast commission will be sucked up by the transfer fee itself.

It’s probably not too optimistic to suggest that this one will be done and made official by the end of the weekend.

Manchester United face Galatasaray in Sweden on Saturday evening (GMT) and there is absolutely no chance of Pogba, who is still on holiday in America, joining up with his new teammates for that one.

But by next week Jose Mourinho will surely expect his new superstar to join the other players for training as Manchester United knuckle down, with squad complete, for the final couple of weeks of preparation before the community shield on 7th August.

That game may well be too early for Pogba also, as it’s just 9 days away and the Frenchman has been out of action since the EURO 2016 final in Paris on 10th July.