Barcelona forced to pull plug on £85m deal for Paul Pogba

Over the coming months, you can expect to hear a lot more about Barcelona's financial problems. While the Catalan club are experiencing tremendous success on the pitch, their board members are struggling to balance the books off of it.

Recently, it was claimed that Barcelona are struggling to agree new deals with Neymar and Leo Messi because they simply cannot afford to offer them the wage increases they deserve.

In particular, Neymar is rightfully demanding a huge increase on his €10.5million-a-year wages, especially as the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and even PSG are willing to pay him many times more than that.

Barcelona's financial problems are not only preventing them from tying down their current crop of superstars but are now preventing them from signing news ones. According to the Mirror, Barcelona have informed Serie A outfit Juventus that they will have to renege on an agreement put in place to sign Paul Pogba.

Executives from the Nou Camp had worked hard to outline a transfer deal worth £85million for the French midfielder, but that plan has now been scrapped as the La Liga leaders look to bring the spiraling situation under control.

Instead, sporting director Robert Fernandez has been told to go looking for a promising young midfielder within a stricter budget. They are also after a new central defender with John Stones, Marquinhos and Aymeric Laporte on the list. None will come cheap but significantly less than Pogba.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Despite Barcelona's sudden U-turn, Pogba, 22, is still likely to leave Turin this summer with Manchester City and Real Madrid both likely to take advantage of the situation. Pep Guardiola will give the Premier League outfit the necessary pulling power while the £85m fee won't be a problem for their billionaire owners.

Real Madrid are not exactly flush with cash at this moment in time but Florentino Perez is likely to pull out all the stops this summer as it could be the last chance he has to bring new players to the club until January 2018. A FIFA embargo was suspended for the summer but will see them banned for the subsequent two windows if their ongoing appeal fails.

RETURN TO MANCHESTER

A move to Real Madrid would certainly close the door on Pogba ever fulfilling his dream of playing for Barcelona, meaning a move to the Etihad is looking more likely at this moment in time. He still feels a connection to the English city and has been seen visiting famous restaurant Wings in the recent past.

Having come through the Manchester United youth system, joining City would certainly alienate him from the Old Trafford faithful but that is unlikely to stop a man flush with as much confidence as Pogba.