Man Utd pay the price for Pogba
THERE would appear to be a difference of opinion over the value of Paul Pogba: somewhere between £50 million and £150 million.
The larger number is what Manchester United are reported to want from any sale; the smaller is what it is claimed Real Madrid or Juventus are willing to pay.
For a player to attract such wildly differing estimates, however, would suggest a deal was close to impossible.
If Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United were genuinely as much as £130m apart — it is said United have dropped to £150m from an initial asking price of £180m — it would only confirm the divisive quality of the individual.
Split the difference and United would still turn a profit on a player whose impact has been minimal. How many matches has Pogba defined, for his then-world record £89.2m transfer fee? How many games could not have been won without him?
He has delivered some decent turns, the occasional spark, a glimpsed promise of the player he could be for them, and on occasion he has been part of a strong collective performance. Yet there is nothing that would get United their money back. Certainly, nothing to justify profit.
A £150m player doesn’t just win matches, he makes the difference in title campaigns. And it cuts no ice that Pogba is a midfielder, and not a forward like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
John Terry, Vincent Kompany, N’golo Kante, Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira — all made the difference on occasions. Look at the impact Virgil van Dijk has had on Liverpool.
The defining influence does not always have a No 9 on his back.
Where is Pogba’s canon at United? Where are the games in which he has doubled his transfer fee, or even added to it? If Manchester United cannot break even on Pogba, no blame should be attached to Ed Woodward, the chief executive, who simply went out in 2016 and did what Jose Mourinho demanded, paying the fee, the wages, and the agent’s commission required to make him a United man again. If, however, Woodward could get anywhere approaching £150m for him this summer, even £130m, he deserves a statue outside Old Trafford right next to the one of Sir Alex Ferguson. It would be the negotiating feat of the century.
Pogba’s circumstances are as harmful to his valuation as his performances. His contract expires in summer 2021. Interested parties know that United must sell soon or risk losing him for nothing, meaning the buying club holds all the cards, particularly as Pogba has already missed most of this season injured. The thought of further inactivity as he runs down his deal next year must fill United with horror.
Think of the best of United in this campaign — away wins at Chelsea and Manchester City, home victories over Tottenham and Leicester, even the draw with Liverpool — and he does not feature. His eight appearances do however include the home defeat by Crystal Palace, the draws with Rochdale — United eventually won the penalty shoot-out — and Southampton, and the loss at Watford. Only the victory over Chelsea on the opening weekend stands out. His was a fine performance, with plenty of promise. It did not last. | Daily Mail