Juventus are increasingly confident of reaching agreement with free agent Paul Pogba.
Pogba, who left Manchester United at the end of last season following a six-year spell back at his boyhood club, is close to linking back up with former manager Massimiliano Allegri and progress on the deal is expected to move quickly.
Further meetings are scheduled with Pogba’s lawyer Rafaela Pimenta this week, with Juve hoping to complete a deal in the coming weeks in preparation for the new Serie A season.
A potential four-year deal back in Italy will be worth £68million to Pogba, who left the club in 2016 for a then-world record fee of £89million in 2016.
The French World Cup winner went onto make 226 appearances for United, scoring 39 goals, but struggled to reach the heights many fans had hoped for.
Rafaela Pimenta, the lawyer who has taken over the negotiations for former clients of Mino Raiola after his death, is working on a deal for Pogba at Juventus.
Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are also though to be interested in the 29-year-old, but Juventus are strong favourites for his signature.
After six difficult seasons at United, where he last won a major trophy in his first campaign back at the club, Pogba departed Old Trafford at the start of June.
He enjoyed his most successful time as a player in his club career at Juventus from 2012 to 2016.
During that time he won four Serie A titles, and helped them reach the Champions League final in 2015.
He returned to United with much optimism but struggled to replicate his performances for Juventus or at international level for the Red Devils.
United’s farewell message to Pogba gushed over ‘a career that had brought so many individual high moments, so many beautiful goals, assists and pieces of skill.’
In truth, the Frenchman’s second stay in Manchester was probably one of the most disappointing in the club’s history.
He regularly failed to live up to expectations, and couldn’t drag United to any major successes, a feat his price tag almost promised.
He will have the chance to inject new life into his career back in Italy, as Juventus aim to climb back to the top of Italy’s footballing mountain after finishing fourth in Serie A last season.