Will Real Madrid hijack Manchester United's bid to make Paul Pogba football's first £100m man?

Judging by various stories emanating from Italy this morning, talks are already underway to finalise a world record transfer for the France midfielder, who left Manchester United for a nominal compensation fee four years ago with Sir Alex Ferguson accusing him of "disrespecting" the club. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, United will pay €100 million (£84m) up front and add on another €25m if Pogba helps United win the Champions League or picks up a few Ballon d'Ors along the way. Judging by United's recent travails in the summer transfer market, nothing can be safely assumed.

Jose Mourinho might be a draw for Pogba, but the United chief executive Ed Woodward needs this just as much, it could be argued. It would be the biggest signing in the club's history.

Not quite. United are 8/15 favourites to land Pogba, but you do not pursue a player valued in nine figures and not expect to cause an awakening elsewhere on the continent. Especially when Madrid pride is at stake. It would not be the biggest transfer of the summer without Madrid declaring some sort of interest. You can take Zinedine Zidane's comments how you will, but just because Zidane says he is happy with his squad does not mean they will not look to open talks about the player.

A Madrid bid could nudge the asking price well beyond £100m. Not that Pogba or his agent Mino Raiola will care about that.

"Do I like Pogba? Of course," Zidane is quoted as saying in the Sun this morning. "He’s a very good player and every club wants the best players. But right now he’s at Juve and we have a large squad already.

"It's difficult because a big squad creates problems. But I don't dislike the idea of looking to the academy. There are a lot of competitions and we need everyone."

Whether or not Madrid want or need Pogba is neither here nor there. They have adequate creativity in their squad, enough to win the Champions League last season, in the form of Toni Kroos, Luka, Modric, James Rodriguez and Isco, but the temptation may be too much. United probably need a midfielder like Pogba more than Madrid, but that does not mean Los Blancos will let United have a free run at it.

This is a time of the year when Madrid come into their own because they can show off their financial muscle. There would be a sense of victory to it all for Madrid if they can beat the English club to such a figure, proving in their own mind that they remain the world's biggest club.

After all, they haven't had a single superstar signing yet this summer - with Alvaro Morata having been purchased back from Juventus.

Well, there is already talk of United paying £67m to land James Rodriguez, whose star has fallen in the Spanish capital since his World Cup glory year of 2014. He hasn't changed much in that time, playing 26 times last season, but Madrid like to freshen up their wardrobe with some the flavour of the month.

Will Madrid sell to James to United if Pogba goes to Old Trafford? Could be a tricky one, but at least United won't come across Madrid in the Champions League.

They are already looking to bring in Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli which should be of interest to Arsenal. Napoli want £78.5m for the Argentina forward, the striker's release clause is set at that mark, and Juve general manager Giuseppe Marotta says that is too rich for the club.

But Juve are also willing to offer Simone Zaza, Roberto Pereyra, Stefano Sturaro and Daniel Rugani as part of any transfer.

Higuain scored 36 goals in Serie A last season. Arsene Wenger has never hidden his admiration of the player after trying to land him from Real Madrid in 2013, but Arsenal have yet to contact Napoli about him. Strikers at such a high level do not grow on trees, and Arsenal will have to break the club's transfer record to sign such a figure.