Manchester City’s determination to prise Paul Pogba from Juventus has led to Yaya Touré being offered as a makeweight in a deal for the Frenchman, who is valued at €100m (£71.5m) by the Italian champions. City have visited Turin to hold talks over a potential transfer for the 22-year-old midfielder, who won the Young Player of the Tournament Award at the FIFA World Cup last year.
City will face competition from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, who signed Pogba in July 2009 before allowing him to depart on a free transfer to Juventus three summers later.
City have offered not only Touré, whose relationship with the club is troubled, but also players like Samir Nasri, Stevan Jovetić, Aleksandar Kolarov and Edin Džeko to Juventus, should the Serie A club wish to include one or more in any deal for Pogba. City are the only club to have gone to Turin to firm up their interest in buying a player who would be the ideal replacement for the ageing Touré and would be expected to be their mainstay in midfield for the foreseeable future.
Juve are reluctant to sell their star player but will listen to offers in the region of €100m. Although their preference would be a straight cash deal, but it remains to be seen if they would accept any player as part of the deal.
