COMMENT: Paul Pogba for Kylian Mbappe. As a swap. As an exchange. On paper, it makes sense. Indeed, it's almost perfect. Well, that's at least for one side of table, anyway...
Okay, okay. It was tail wagging the dog stuff. But it was worth putting out there. Even if the response suggested the time wasted was worth far, far more than the question. This column tapping one intermediary whom had worked with both Manchester United and PSG in recent years; putting a flyer out there: "Has there been any chatter about a Pogba and Mbappe swap?"
For this column, it made sense. Both players were running down their contracts. Both were looking beyond their respective clubs. PSG were making a serious pitch to Mino Raiola, Pogba's agent, about bringing him home to Paris. And in England, United were seeking a striker. Putting two and two together, we felt it was worth the query.
That query was fired off days after France's elimination from the Euros. And the response was a negative; a flat no - with it emphasised that there'd been nothing from the United side.
Yet last week, it did emerge in the English media that United had been in contact with Mbappe's reps. But not about a move this month. The story running that United had let it be known they'd be keen to discuss Bosman terms with Mbappe in January should he decide to stay this season.
Was there substance to it? Or was it just a flyer? Only those involved can tell us. But what we can say is that the prospect of United jumping into this battle is remote. Pogba and PSG is one thing. But Mbappe moving to Old Trafford...? It's a stretch.
Significantly, this has more do to with the new recruitment team at United than any reluctance from the Mbappe camp. Eighteen months ago and you could see it happening. A big name available. Rival clubs cash-strapped. Ed Woodward would've all over this one. United's departing vice-chairman seeing the opportunity to land a future Ballon d'Or. Even if Mbappe didn't fancy it, Woodward would've been on the phone to at least give the World Cup winner the chance to say 'no'.
But today, there's a lot more precision to United's market work. The football team of John Murtough and Darren Fletcher now drive the planning process. Matt Judge, Woodward's eventual replacement, now the club's dealmaker. And with Mbappe, you can understand why if even his father, Wilfried, had been on the phone with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to offer Kylian to United's manager, there'd be hesitation.
Mbappe and Pogba together with France
United are 100 per cent in the market for a new striker. But it's for a specific type. And Mbappe doesn't fit. Mason Greenwood does. As does Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. You could even throw in Anthony Elanga. Solskjaer, Murtough and Fletcher aren't seeking another player of this type. They're busy seeking a centre-forward. A younger version of Edinson Cavani. With aerial power. A physical presence. Capable of playing with his back to goal. And willing to "break his nose", as Solskjaer puts it, if there's a chance of bundling the ball over the goalline. This isn't Mbappe. A player to work off the No9 - not to perform as one. To drift in from a flank. To do his best work when facing the goal. Solskjaer has enough of these players. The priority now is to find Cavani's successor before he hangs up the boots next summer. Signing Mbappe would still leave United at square one.
At PSG, however, you can see the prospect being raised. There's tension with Mbappe's chosen destination, Real Madrid. If there's an opportunity to send their No9 elsewhere, they'd do it in a heartbeat.
But it has to be said, Nasser al-Khelaifi, the club's president, doesn't want to lose Mbappe. Even it means seeing the striker leave for nothing next summer. It's an opinion shared by his sporting director, Leonardo. The two men are football fans first. Like any ultra, even if it costs the club millions, they want to see Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi together in PSG shirts this season.
Throw in Gini Wijnaldum in midfield; Gigio Donnarumma in goal - and you can understand why PSG's powerbrokers are fighting so hard to hold onto Mbappe. This is era-defining, history-making stuff. It's not the Galacticos of Florentino Perez's Real Madrid, but it's very close.
And it's why Pogba is so tempted by the prospect of returning home. United fans need to steel themselves. We can talk about the wages shelled out by PSG to Messi, Wijnaldum and Donnarumma. But they're all Bosman transfers. After Achraf Hakimi's £65m arrival from Inter Milan, there's money there for another big offer to be tabled. There's been no talk about United and Mbappe in France, but the best sources across the Channel are clear about Al-Khelaifi waiting until the final days of this market to lodge a cash bid for Pogba.
Solskjaer is making the right soundings about his No6. And to be fair, Pogba has done the right thing by the manager and his (current) club. But PSG are coming. Al-Khelaifi will ask the question. And those in charge will have to decide between breaking even on the €105m they paid Juventus five years ago, or writing that off.
It's unlikely exchanges will be discussed. At least not involving Mbappe. For both clubs, even as good as it looks on paper, such a swap is in neither of their best interests.
