Three names have dominated headlines this summer: Paul Pogba, Neymar and Gareth Bale.

Starting with Pogba, the Frenchman wants to leave Manchester United and recently said it could be time for a new challenge. Real Madrid are his dream club.

Neymar's situation is that he's unhappy at Paris Saint-Germain and wants to rejoin Barcelona, who he left in 2017 for a world-record sum to escape Lionel Messi's shadow.

And as for Bale, Sunday saw Zinedine Zidane omit him from the pre-season friendly defeat against Bayern Munich and then tell reporters that he wants the Welsh winger to leave.

"Bale did not play tonight because the club is working on his exit," said Zidane. "I hope it's imminent, if it happens tomorrow it would be better."

What makes this transfer merry-go-round even more intriguing is that Real and PSG both want Pogba, while United are long-term admirers of Neymar and Bale.

In an ideal world, the three players involved would simply swap clubs and then everyone would be happy.

Pogba could join Real, Neymar could join United and then Bale could join PSG, who have the money to pay his current £600,000-per-week wages.

However, for one reason or another, United aren't interested in signing Neymar or Bale this summer and want to keep Pogba at all costs.

According to the Evening Standard and the Independent, United have been approached by PSG and Real in recent days over potential swap deals for Pogba.

PSG offered Neymar and Real offered Bale, but United rejected both, which is mind-blowing when you consider Pogba wants to leave.

United's issue with the Neymar deal was the cost of it, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking to reduce the average age of his squad and Bale, 30, doesn't fit the bill.

Two questionable decisions that could come back to haunt United, because Neymar and Bale are both world-class forwards and Bale in particular has Premier League experience.

If Pogba does end up staying, Solskjaer better hope he delivers.