Paul Pogba has been heavily linked with a mega-lucrative return to ex-club Manchester United but the deal could very well be off

Pogba's invisible display in the 2016 UEFA Euro final may shatter his massive move back to Old Trafford. Several hours before the start of the match, Sky Sports announced that Real Madrid have officially pulled out of the race to sign the Juventus midfielder. The reason? Los Blancos got priced out by English giants Manchester United. Juventus' asking price of 123 million euros scared them off.

A stellar display for France in the Euro 2016 final would have underlined the Old Lady's claim that their player is worth this much. However, this was not to be. The Red Devils' target had 132 touches in the game (more than any other player on the pitch) and despite recording a 93 per cent passing accuracy, he won only two areal duels and made only one shot which was not on target.

Talks between Manchester United and Juve are still in progress but Pogba's failure to shine at the Stade de France on Sunday night could dent the Italians' chances of hitting the jackpot for his transfer. It remains to be seen how coach Jose Mourinho, who celebrated Portugal's victory on Instagram, finally rates Pogba's value days after opting to axe as many as eight players to fund the bid for his number one target.  

In a piece for the Mirror, Robbie Fowler argued that Paul Pogba is not better than the ageing Bastian Schweinsteiger. He went further, singling out Leicester City's N'Golo Kante as a player who does not possess a 100M euros price tag but who still brings "energy and athleticism to midfield" in no fewer quantity than the much-wanted Juventus star.

"I’m sorry, but Pogba is massively overrated. [...] He hasn’t really stood out in Europe and most certainly not at these European Championships," Fowler wrote.

"He’s done OK against pretty limited opposition for France, but what does he bring?

"He’s skilful but selfish, not many goals, which for me is a fundamental problem if you’re going to spend £100m on him."

Meanwhile, fans and popular journalists on Twitter shared comments mocking Pogba's huge price tag. They had a field day slamming him for flopping.