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Hello and welcome to the Premier League transfer news and rumours of the day! Here are the top stories of the day surrounding the Premiership!
Bartomeu on Pogba
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has claimed that Paul Pogba is among the top that Manchester United have. When asked about Pogba, he stated that he doesn’t want to speak about a player from another team but praised the group of players that United have.
He also added that United could challenge for the Premier League title next season while also providing a fight this season in the Champions League.
"I prefer not to talk about players from other teams because I am sure there are also players at Barca that can make other teams better,” Bartomeu said.
"What I have to recognise is that United, in the last few years, have created a very good group, good players that are coming through.
“I am sure next season they will be candidates for the Premier League, and this year for the Champions League.”
Bartomeu then revealed that he was indeed interested in signing Pogba from Juventus but couldn’t do so because of the amount of money that the Old Lady had asked for him.
And ultimately, he went to Manchester United to make them a better team, claimed Bartomeu.
“In the summer of 2015, Paul Pogba was playing in Turin and we simply told Juve that, if one day they decide to sell the player, we would be interested.
"When they sold the player, they told us what the offer would have to be and we couldn't afford that amount of money at the time.
"So he went to United, and he's making them better as a team because he's one of the stars of the world of football right now."
Sarri wants Kovacic to stay
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri wants Mateo Kovacic to stay at the club. The Croat is on loan from Real Madrid and Sarri claimed that he wants to buy him outright as Chelsea only have Jorginho in the tempo-setter role in midfield.
He also added that Kovacic has the potential to be a great central midfielder and could also feature in defensive midfield – despite it not being his natural role – because he likes technical players there.
"He is only on loan, of course, but I'd like very much that Kovacic will stay with us. You know very well that, in that position, we have some problems because we have only Jorginho.
"In my opinion, Kovacic could become a very good central midfielder. Of course, he is not a defensive midfielder (at the moment) but, as you know, in that position I prefer a very technical player.”
Klopp to stay with the Reds
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stated that he is going to stay at the club, putting aside comments from Franz Beckenbauer, who stated that the German would be an ideal coach for Bayern Munich.
Klopp stated that his contract runs until 2022 and he wishes to stay at the Merseyside outfit. He also added that no-one wants him to leave Liverpool and that Beckenbauer’s words were taken too seriously despite the fact that the German legend doesn’t really care about what he says.
"I have a contract at Liverpool until 2022. And nobody here has the feeling that we should cancel it.
"Neither from the owners nor from my side there is even a tendency in this direction. So, nobody has to think about that.
"Franz just says such a sentence and, of course, he triggers very much with it. He didn't even care about that."
Arsenal and Pogba
Arsenal manager Unai Emery is open to the idea of signing Samuel Umtiti from Barcelona. There have been stories of the Catalans wanting to sell the Frenchman in order to fund a move for Matthijs De Ligt and Emery has claimed that he is among the very good players from France.
He also added that he has had French players in his past teams, suggesting his openness to signing Umtiti.
“[Umtiti] is a very good player,” Emery told RMC Sport. “France has a lot of very good players playing abroad.
“The French championship is a very attractive market for many teams.
“I have always had French players in my previous teams.”
Meanwhile, ABC claims that Mino Raiola is doing all he can to take Paul Pogba out of Manchester United in order to make him join Real Madrid. He believes that “it’s time” for Pogba to join Madrid.
