Zidane is insisting on Pogba Real Madrid Still wants the French midfielder

Finding form in LaLiga Santander and the Champions League and the arrival on the scene of Fede Valverde have not changed Zinedine Zidane's plans for the transfer market, as he is still insistent that he wants Paul Pogba.

Zidane wants him at all costs and sees him as the missing piece of the puzzle, while he even considers that the club owe him it as it was his only demand when he returned to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in March.

Contact between the coach and the Manchester United man has not stopped during the season, with Zidane not hiding the fact that they are friends and that he feels a footballing devotion towards him.

Pogba, who met Zidane in October in Dubai, has made his interest in a deal clear, and that's why he has been pressuring Manchester United since the summer and continues to do so to this day.

His current club doubt that his current injury is real, as Paco Gonzalez revealed on 'Tiempo de Juego' on Cadena Cope, after he has spent more than half of the season recovering in Dubai and Miami.

The situation for him in Manchester is delicate and they know that he wants to move to Real Madrid.

His contract will expire in 2021 and he could refuse to renew.

The problem for both Pogba and Zidane is that Real Madrid are still not convinced about signing him.

Directors at the Bernabeu agree that he is a great player, but they have doubts about how he would fit into a squad where Valverde is having a great impact and they do not want to prevent the development of young players like him or the soon-to-return Martin Odegaard.

That reluctance from the board means that Operation Pogba looks like mission impossible for now.

The club believe that Pogba would cost at least 120 million euros and some do not believe that he should cost as much as Eden Hazard, whilst others are concerned by his wages of 16 million euros net per season, though Zidane insists that it would not be a problem.

"I don't think Valverde is like Pogba," Zidane said on November 1, making clear his position.

Mino Raiola, the agent who will try to explain to Manchester United that Pogba wants to leave, wants the move to happen.

The issue for this deal is the reluctance of the clubs, with Real Madrid not wanting to prevent Valverde's development whilst the Red Devils do not want to give him away.

Both institutions are firm in their stances.

Neither party, Zidane nor Pogba, has given up hope of their dreams becoming reality in January or June, when Pogba would only have one year left on his contract.

Zidane has Pogba's word that Real Madrid is his first-choice destination and that he would not entertain any type of bidding war.

Real Madrid, besides Pogba, have two other players under consideration in central midfield.

Ajax's Donny van de Beek is the most popular with the club and an agreement could be reached in just hours.

The other is Christian Eriksen, who will leave Tottenham in the summer when his contract expires.

This means that he could move for free, a deal potentially too good to turn down.

For Zidane, the only deal too good to turn down would be Pogba, whatever the cost, but he also knows that the club have their doubts.