Paul Pogba 'to sign Juventus contract at start of July'

Paul Pogba has verbally agreed a contract with Juventus and will officially sign the deal with the Serie A giants at the start of July, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The 29-year-old's departure from Manchester United on a free transfer has been confirmed, with the midfielder's deal at Old Trafford due to officially expire at the end of June.

Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are among the clubs to be credited with an interest in the France international ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

However, Juventus have recently emerged as the favourites to re-sign the World Cup winner, and it is understood that he will sign a four-year contract in Turin.

According to Romano, a verbal agreement between the two parties is already in place, and the midfielder will officially put pen to paper on the deal at the start of July.

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The journalist reiterates that there was an approach from Man City this summer, but the Frenchman turned down the chance to make the move to Pep Guardiola's side.

The midfielder will allegedly earn a base salary of around £131,000 a week, which is a reduction on the £290,000 a week that he has been collecting at Man United.

However, the overall package could reportedly be worth in the region of €80m (£68.3m), taking into account bonuses and the large signing-on fee that he will receive upon his return to Turin.

Pogba will leave Man United having only won the EFL Cup and Europa League, and he has largely struggled to show his best form for the 20-time English champions since returning to the club in 2016.

During his first spell at Juventus, the former Le Havre youngster made 178 appearances for the Italian club, winning four Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia crowns.

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The midfielder recently spoke of the importance of 'feeling loved' at his next club, having cut a frustrated figure for long periods of his second spell at Old Trafford.

Pogba ended last season with one goal and nine assists in 27 appearances for Man United in all competitions, missing a chunk of action due to fitness issues.

He told Uninterrupted: "Everybody wants to feel loved, everyone needs that in your soul to feel appreciated. Everything you do even when you grow up, when you do a good thing you like to hear well done, nice, it's always been like that even adults we need that.

"It's always good to feel the work you do is appreciated that you're doing well that people are happy with yourself. I just want the best for me. I'm thinking, putting everything together, take my time, and I'm just looking for the best, I want to play football, be myself always, and enjoy what I do.

"I need to enjoy what I do because otherwise I cannot perform well. I don't want to be thinking negatively. We can be losing games, trophies but you have to be happy and enjoy yourself – that's what I'm looking for."

Nemanja Matic has also left Man United on a free transfer, and the Red Devils could replace the outing duo with Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong and Christian Eriksen, with the latter set to leave Brentford.