Given the size of a club like Real Madrid, they are always interested in signing the best players in the world and are always a destination the best players dream of coming to. Pulling on the famous all white kit and playing on the pitch at the Estadio Bernabeu is one of the greatest honors in the game, so it shouldn't come as a surprise when the best players are mentioned with Los Blancos.
We've seen it before with players like Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, and Kylian Mbappe, who said Madrid is the club they always dreamed of playing for and where they were constantly linked, and when the club finally came calling, they didn't hesitate to say yes and make the move.
One player that Madrid were linked with back during his prime is midfielder Paul Pogba. During his time at Juventus from 2012 to 2016, the Frenchman established himself as one of, if not the best, midfielders in the world, and many thought he could end up at Los Blancos. And this was recently confirmed by the player himself.
Ex-Man Utd star admits regrets over not joining Real Madrid
In a recent interview, former Manchester United star Pogba revealed that he nearly signed for Real Madrid back in 2016, before deciding to return to Old Trafford United. He told the Beyond the Pitch podcast:
"To be honest, Real Madrid came to me and I was thinking to go there, and I was also thinking about going to Manchester.Paul Pogba
My heart told me to go back to United. I don’t know why, I didn’t know what would happen.
But I did it, and I don’t regret it."
How exactly Pogba would have fit into Real Madrid back then would have been interesting to say the least. 2016 was one of the best years for the Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric midfield trio, as well as an impressive Isco, so adding a player with the quality of Pogba into the mix might have made for an even more dominant midfield than the one that graced European football at the time.
But ultimately, Pogba returned to United for what, at the time, was a record £89 million (€105 million), in what is to this day one of the most polarising transfers of all time. Pogba's time with the Red Devils was somewhat of a mixed bag. While he did win the Europa League, many still question whether he lived up to his hugely expensive price tag.