Paul Pogba lined up for stunning Juventus return as Manchester United face battle to keep World Cup hero

Juventus want to take Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba back to Italy.

The Serie A champions have told Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, that they are interested in re-signing the midfielder they sold to United for £89million two years ago – if the Reds can be persuaded to sell.

After splashing out £90million to recruit Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid, the Turin giants are looking to raise around £200million by cashing in on stars such as Miralem Pjanic, Gonzalo Higuain, Daniele Rugani and Mattia Caldara in a bid to finance the kind of deal that would test United’s resolve.

Juve want to team Pogba up with Ronaldo as they look to turn unrivalled domestic dominance into a Champions League triumph under coach Max Allegri.

And they believe the 25-year-old midfielder is open to a return to Turin after admitting during France’s triumphant World Cup campaign that a rift with Jose Mourinho did open up last season when he was dropped from United’s team.

Pogba spent four years with Juventus after Sir Alex Ferguson refused to hand him the contract he was demanding to stay at Old Trafford in 2012.

He went on to win the title in every season he was with the club, as well as lifting the Coppa Italia twice, and helping Juve reach the Champions League final in 2015.

Sunday Mirror Sport understands that Raiola began contacting Europe’s top clubs in January to gauge the level of interest in his client – and Juventus made it clear they would take Pogba back.

But after winning their seventh successive Italian title they set their sights on prising Ronaldo away from Madrid.

Now they want Pogba and are looking to generate finance by selling a clutch of top players.

Manchester City have been offered the chance to sign Pjanic after being beaten to Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred by United and Napoli’s Jorginho by Chelsea.

But the Premier League champions have mde it clear they are not interested in meeting the Bosnian’s £90million valuation.

Chelsea are ready to pay the price for £53million-rated striker Higuain and £40million-rated defender Rugani.

And Stamford Bridge technical director Marina Granovskaia flew to the Cote d’Azur to meet with her Juventus counterpart Fabio Paretic to broker a deal.

But AC Milan have demanded Rugani in an exchange deal that would see defender Leonardo Bonucci return to Turin.

And that has prompted the Blues to look at 24-year-old Italian international Caldara as an alternative.