Don't wait 30 years - sign up for our daily football email newsletter today! Sign up Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

And it has also become clear that the France midfielder would have to ask Juventus for a transfer if he is to leave Italy's champions.

City's move for the former Manchester United trainee is on hold - but it is not dead.

The proposed deal has become complicated, though, by a former representative still having a stake in Pogba's image riights.

City want total control of that situation, arguing they are entitled to that if they are paying a transfer fee of £80million and wages to Pogba, 22, of £250,000 a week.

The Daily Star Sunday revealed a month ago that the total package involved in signing Pogba on a five-year contract - including a £10m signing-on fee - would amount to a massive £155m.

A similar image-rights dispute last season delayed City's £42m signing of another French international - Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala, 24.

But City are still hopeful of eventually landing powerhouse Pogba, who has also attracted strong interest from Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

In many respects, however, the ball is in Pogba's court, as Juve say he will have to push for a move if he wants to leave Turin.

The Old Lady's chief executive officer Giuseppe Marotta said: "We will not sell our best players - our top assets - unless the players themselves ask us to let them leave."