It’s finally official… #POGBACK.
After weeks of speculation and rumours, Paul Pogba has finally returned back to Manchester in a reported £89million deal. And with several other big money signings taking place in the summer transfer window, many fans have posed the question of whether he warrants this extortionate price tag. So I decided to weigh in with my opinion (even though no one asked for it), because why not.
Former Arsenal midfielder, Ray Parlour on Paul Pogba’s hefty price tag: “He’s a tremendous player, there’s no doubt about that, and he will deliver. Yes, £100m is a lot of money but he will be a real asset in that midfield area”
First off, in a footballing world where Yannick Bolasie is valued at £30million and John Stones set City back £47million (bear in mind that Hazard and Alexis Sanchez cost £28mil and £32mil respectively, let that sink in), of course Pogba is worth £89million. Football is slowly, but surely, becoming a business, and money talks, essentially. As much as people moan, sportsmen and women will only get more expensive as the sport grows. If it takes big bucks to attract the best players, then why not splash the cash? It signals ambition and intent to succeed. It keeps the fans happy, which will see more gate receipts and merchandise sales, which then, in turn results in more revenue for the club that can be used as disposable income: a financial cycle – very much like a business.
His stats from last season alone almost warrant his price tag; 8 goals and 12 assists in 33 games in Serie A, meaning he directly contributed to 20 goals in 33 games, astonishing. This also includes an average match rating of 7.81 (in Serie A) according to whoscored.com, as well as an average of 7.46 at the European Championships – he’s more than capable on the big stage, but we all knew that anyway. Pogba is a world-class player with a great mentality and confident persona, meaning he wont be easily phased by the heavy expectation weighing on his shoulders. And lets not forget he’s no stranger to the Premier League.
From a tactical point of view, Pogba is just the sort of player United need to propel them to that next level. If United were to deploy Pogba in a deeper lying role (which is where I believe he should play) in the middle of the park, this can add the intricate quality they have been lacking in this area since the Scholes/Keane era. At current they have the likes of Michael Carrick, Maroune Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera; who are decent players, but not at that elite level Pogba presently operates at. The reason I would expect Pogba to play and succeed in this role as opposed to a more attacking position, in which he was utilised at Juventus, is that United boast a wealth of attacking talent in these attacking positions; Mata, Mkhitaryan and Rooney to name a few. Why waste one of these sublime talents when you can just replace a decent squad player with a superstar like Pogba with minimal consequence?
I’ve chosen to leave out the negatives of this deal and why Pogba isn’t worth the money as they’re basically self-explanatory from the trend of this piece, increased pressure on him to succeed straight away, heightened expectations, major financial loss if the unlikely happens and he flops, etc.
Of course, this is only my opinion, and realistically, anything can happen. So the truth is; we’ll have to wait and see what happens. I, for one, am thoroughly excited to see Manchester United’s new number 6 in action and I think secretly, most people are too.
James Cragg Sport 