Juventus hoping to sign Verratti as Pogba replacement

The sale of the Frenchman to the Red Devils is expected to be made official within the short term, and it should bring an influx of €110m into the Old Lady's accounts.

While most of that must plug the hole left by the €90m spent to buy Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli, it does give them a small margin of movement to look for another midfielder.

A variety of names have been discussed, with the prime candidates being Zenit St Petersburg's Axel Witsel, Chelsea's Nemanja Matic and PSG's Blaise Matuidi.

But the Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the number one target is midfield star Verratti. The 23-year-old is universally considered to be one of the most talented Italian players of this generation and the Bianconeri have been linked to him for a long time.

Apparently the club will contact the player's agent Donato Di Campli in the coming days and discuss the possibility of a transfer.

However, their odds of bringing back Verratti look very slim, as the player is on course to sign his fourth contract extension with the French team.

Furthermore, PSG have already rejected a €60m offer by Real Madrid, which is bad news for Juventus as they don't want to spend more than €50m themselves.