As Paul Pogba’s world record move to Manchester United took another step closer to completion 24 miles across London at the Olympic Stadium, his new teammates – some more familiar to the Frenchman than others – were demonstrating the early progress they have made without him under Jose Mourinho.
Confirmation from Juventus officials attending their club’s game against West Ham that Pogba has been cleared to undergo a medical in Manchester on Monday means United’s protracted pursuit of their former player is almost at an end.
He will become Mourinho’s fourth signing of the summer and a vital ingredient in the manager’s plans; a dynamic box-to-box midfielder in the mould, Mourinho hopes, of Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard.