Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has repeatedly claimed that Paul Pogba is the man Manchester United are going to build the team around. At 26, he’s hitting his peak now, and on the back of World Cup success in the summer, has enjoyed his most successful season to date in his career, in terms of goals and assists.

“He is a Man United player, he is one of our big performers on the big stage,” Solskjaer said earlier this week. “I cannot see him not playing for Man United next season either.”

However, Real Madrid are reportedly keen to sign our midfielder, with Zinedine Zidane a fan of his compatriot. There are a variety of betting offers in UK that would see Pogba’s future at Old Trafford coming to an end, with the flattery from a hero of his too much to resist.

“I know him personally,” he said last month. “He brings so much and there are few players who bring as much as he does. He’s a midfielder who knows how to defend and how to attack. But he is not my player, he is at Manchester. He has always said that, after Manchester, Madrid has always interested him. So when his experience at Manchester ends, why not come here to Madrid?”

Pogba has done little to distance himself from this talk either, claiming that it would be a “dream” for every player to sign for them. He did in the caveat that he is happy at United though, although you have to wonder whether his head has already been turned by the Spanish giants.

Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro has continued the public courtship of our player, claiming that he would be welcome at the Bernabeu.

A player of his level is compatible with any player in the world. We know he is a great player, but we cannot talk about a player who is not here with the team. We know that if he comes to Madrid he will be very welcome because we know he is a great player. He is a great person and we have to respect him and respect Manchester.

While the pull of Real Madrid will always be big, Zidane is unproven as a manager without Cristiano Ronaldo in the team. That’s not to say that he won’t do a good job second time around but he’ll find it more difficult. Since his return, Madrid have beaten three teams in the bottom half of the table and lost to sixth-placed Valencia.