Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has skipped joining his team's China preseason tour in exchange for pursuing Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba in Italy.

The Red Devils are reportedly targeting the 23-year-old France international as their fourth big-name signing this summer after the acquisitions of Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have all been completed.

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The English Premier League club is quite keen in snagging Pogba from Turin that United exec Woodward chose to miss the team's flight to China for their participation in the 2016 International Champions Cup for the chance to secure a deal with the talented midfielder in Italy.

United was accompanied by managing director Richard Arnold instead as the squad's senior official during the trip, as per BBC Sport.

Reports have emerged that the Manchester residents are preparing to submit a world-record £105 million bid for Pogba, which is £20 million more than the current world transfer record set by Real Madrid's acquisition of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.

Real's £80 million purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo from Man United in 2009 was the previous record before their own deal for Bale broke it.

The report noted, though, that "Woodward will join the tour at some point, and it is not known whether his absence is connected to the reported approach for Pogba".

It should also be noted that Pogba's agent, Mino Raiola, is also the agent of recent signings Ibrahimović and Mkhitaryan.

Meanwhile, the Mirror indicated that "any Pogba deal is likely to spark a domino effect of deals elsewhere".

Speculations abound that Juventus is set to use the profit from the Frenchman's sale to buy Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuaín from rival squad Napoli and Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic from Chelsea.

New Red Devils head coach Jose Mourinho will reportedly not play England national team members Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling, and Marcus Rashford during the China friendlies even when the trio joined the team for the tour. Ibrahimović stayed behind in Manchester and will not participate in the 2016 ICC.

TagsChina Football, China Football News, Manchester United, Ed Woodward, Paul Pogba, Juventus