Real Madrid to Fund €150m Paul Pogba Pursuit by Using Money Generated From Gareth Bale Departure

Real Madrid will use the money freed up by selling Gareth Bale to lure Manchester United's Paul Pogba to the club this summer. Zinedine Zidane has confirmed

Real Madrid will use the money freed up by selling Gareth Bale to lure Manchester United's Paul Pogba to the club this summer.

Zinedine Zidane has confirmed that Bale is close to sealing a move away from the club this summer and, whilst there is no official word as to his destination, it is believed that the Welshman's departure would help raise an enormous amount of money this summer.

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AS state that Real will use these funds to pursue Pogba. Bale is expected to cost around €60m - with a move to the Chinese Super League believed to be most likely - whilst James Rodriguez's imminent move to either Atletico Madrid or Napoli could be worth €50m, and selling the pair would give Los Blancos the vast majority of United's asking price.

Parting with Borja Mayoral, Lucas Vazquez and Mariano Diaz would likely raise the remaining transfer funds, whilst significant offers for either Isco or Marco Asensio could make life even easier for Real.

They are prepared to pay up to €150m for Pogba, and the Frenchman's wage demands are also not expected to be a problem.

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Bale is said to earn €14.5m per season at the Santiago Bernabeu, and it is believed that Real plan to simply offer that figure to Pogba once the Welshman's move away has been confirmed, which would ensure that Real are still in the same position financially if Pogba does sign.

Los Blancos hope to complete a deal for Pogba as soon as possible to allow United time to find a replacement, but Zidane fears that their pursuit of the midfielder could go on until the end of August - after the Premier League transfer window has closed.

However, this would give Real plenty of time to offload their unwanted players, which would then allow them to submit a reasonable offer for Pogba.

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United are believed to value Pogba at around €200m, but Real hope that they would be prepared to lower their asking price if they can come in with a sizeable bid.