Paul Pogba

[DrPepper]

Another thing, Tuttosport just reported that Juventus apparently refused a 80 million euros offer from us. They are a Torino based sports newspaper that have really close connections with Juventus. Normally their credibility is very low but when it comes to Juventus they are mostly spot on. So if Juventus are refusing that kind of money think for a second what it would take to buy him.

100 million euros (for instance) would be absolutely laughable. He is no Suárez, Neymar or Ronaldo. In fact I am not sure if I would not rather pay that kind of money for a 24 year old Bale as RM did in the summer of 2013.

I am afraid that the club would commit a mistake if we bought him this summer. Just like we did when we bought Ibra right after our treble season in 2009. Also with all due respect to Pogba, Ibra was on another level when we bought him aside from being an attacking player who are always more expensive than midfielders, defenders etc.

I don't know man.

Yeah, this.

People here already thinking about his market value in case he fails and we have to resell him already tells me that they don't have that much faith in him anyway.

 

[Leo_Messi]

You said if he flops for 2 seasons, 22 + 2 = 24.

Di Maria would be 28 after one more season and while he might not go for that high, he'll still command a very high transfer even if he under-performs further.

Pogba is not the same situation because firstly, his potential "flopping" at Barca would be like a Cesc or Ibra type of "flopping" meaning under-performs or fails to adapt, but still good production; and secondly, after 2 years Pogba would still be 3 years younger than Di Maria and Cesc were when they were sold, which means the world in terms of value.

Btw, Ibra is a poor comparison because he was bought as a 28 year old and sold as a 30 year old (one loan season in between). He lost more value due to age than anything else.

Edited for clarification.

Fair enough.

Di María is an attacking player unlike Pogba. They are always more expensive. Di María showed his worth on the highest level for years. Pogba is yet to do that to the same extend.

Anyway that's not even the point here. If Di María flops for another season after Man Utd paid 80 million euros for him (that money could have strengthened the team a lot if used differently) it would not even matter much if Man Utd were able to sell him for let's say 50 million euros and "only" lose 30 million euros on his transfer (excluding his wages) in the process.

Now don't forget that my premise is that we could buy Koke AND a player such as Gündogan for that kind of money (80 million euros +) instead. If those two would flop for 2 seasons in a row (more unlikely than Pogba doing it IMO) we could always sell at least Koke for a high price too considering his age.

So all that it boils down to is whether Pogba is the right pick sporting wise and whether the money could be spent better. I tend to believe just that.

Also let's not forget the insanely high salary that Pogba apparently wants. Sport and EMD have reported that his wages would only be second to Messi. That's absolutely ridiculous. The whole idea of buying Pogba for 80 million euros + sounds ridiculous to me.

 

[Morten]

How much? 100m?

Juventus is a big club, they basically own Serie A, they have money, they have success and Pogba is young and talented, probably has a contract that wont run out anytime soon. They hold all the cards, thats just how it is. Is he a worth 100 mill purely as a player? No. But you got to look at the whole package.

 

[Leo_Messi]

Thats how the market is these days, if you want arguably the best young midfielder(along with Verratti and Koke), you got to pay for it.

Can you mention a 22 year old midfielder who with all due respect is yet to prove himself on the highest level continuously who was sold for 80 million euros + in recent years? I can't think of such a case.

As I said Pogba is NOT an attacking player. He is not the most promising attacking player like Neymar was when we bought him. He is no Suárez. Nor a Ronaldo. Or even a Bale. Or a Hazard. That kind of money is IMO reserved for those kind of players. Maybe exclude Bale from that list but all the remaining players that I have quickly mentioned are players that have either strengthened their respective teams a hell lot or who are very young while performing on a very high level (top world class) while still being very likely to improve further.

Verratti is not for sale and no sane club would even offer that kind of money for him I believe. Koke's buyout clause (!) is 60 million euros. Not comparable.

Hazard is IMO the only player that I would be willing to pay that kind of money for.

You know that the market is completely ridiculous when players such as Pogba are this expensive and apparently demanding wages that are only second to Messi should they move to FCB.

Juventus is a big club, they basically own Serie A, they have money, they have success and Pogba is young and talented, probably has a contract that wont run out anytime soon. They hold all the cards, thats just how it is. Is he a worth 100 mill purely as a player? No. But you got to look at the whole package.

Juventus are free to value Pogba as highly as they want to. What I (and other fans) and the club should be interested in is whether that kind of money is worth it from our perspective and I seriously doubt that it is when looking at the alternatives.

Our board is probably demanding at least 250 million euros for Messi but would any sane club pay that kind of money even for Messi? I doubt so.

 

[Thanos]

If David Luiz is worth 50, Pogba is easily worth 80+

 

[Flavia]

How much? 100m?

Probably. I don't even think that would be the biggest issue. Pogba's salary is. It'd be a highly risky buy.

 

[Leo_Messi]

If David Luiz is worth 50, Pogba is easily worth 80+

Excellent logic and example. PSG is an oil club. Money does not matter for them. Neither for the likes of Man City. That's why you see them paying insane amounts for player such as Mangala as well who they bought for almost 45 million euros. Mangala of all players!

That's why FFP is highly needed and has been created. Exactly to stop such madness from occurring far too often. If it did not exist you would see such oil clubs pay insane amounts for players that are not worth it and create inflation on the transfer market. Something that is already a problem.

No, he is easily worth 150 million euros in fact. I suggest that we sell the Camp Nou and spend all the money on him.

 

[antonnn]

Luiz isn't worth it, we just scammed PSG.

 

[Morten]

Excellent logic and example. PSG is an oil club. Money does not matter for them. Neither for the likes of Man City. That's why you see them paying insane amounts for player such as Mangala as well who they bought for almost 45 million euros. Mangala of all players!

That's why FFP is highly needed and has been created. Exactly to stop such madness from occurring far too often. If it did not exist you would see such oil clubs pay insane amounts for players that are not worth it and create inflation on the transfer market. Something that is already a problem.

No, he is easily worth 150 million euros in fact. I suggest that we sell the Camp Nou and spend all the money on him.

Sell it to Quatar fondation, they can rename it

 

[Sumlit]

I'm only arguing the resale value part of this.

I already said in this page a while back (or maybe the transfer page) that my limit for Pogba is €75M. That €80M rejected offer is already above my limit, and it is less about the potential of the player "flopping" because of the resale value argument, but more because I'm in the camp that say the team needs more than 1 quality CM, aside from a RB and maybe another versatile fullback. Can't go spending all your money on Pogba.

 

[Leo_Messi]

I have nothing against Pogba personally and I would buy him today and take the risk if his price was significantly lower and his wage demands smaller too. I would thus give him the benefit of the doubt.

Now if the rumors are true about his insane wage demands and of Juventus demanding close to 100 million euros for him, I honestly believe that we should look at other targets. For instance Koke and Gündogan.

We are not an oil club and although we are a very rich club we can't throw money around like some drunkards. Especially not as we have arguably other positions to strengthen as well apart from the midfield. Finding long-term replacements for a 32 year old Dani and a 31 year old Mascherano just to mention two examples. Or finding a long-term replacement for a 31 year old Don Andrés.

I am not against spending serious money. I just want us to do that on the right targets. For instance I consider the transfers of Neymar and Suárez to be brilliant. Not sure about Pogba if we paid that kind of money for him.

 

[Thanos]

Who would you rather they spend it on?

 

[DrPepper]

GündoGOAT and Koke of course.

 

[Leo_Messi]

Who would you rather they spend it on?

If we needed a world class attacking player, which we do not currently, I would be willing to spend that kind of money on a player like Hazard for instance.

In terms of midfielders I would rather spend that kind of money on Verratti (I don't believe that PSG will ever be able to sell a player of his characteristics for such a high price) as he would be a better fit in my eyes. The problem is that he is not for sale which Pogba seems to be if the right offer arrives.

If we were to spend 80 million euros + to strengthen our midfield I would rather use that sum of money on the likes of Koke AND Gündogan. Or Koke and Óliver Torres for instance.

Or buy Óliver Torres and Gündogan and likely save 30-40 million euros that could be spent on other positions to partially replace those players that I mentioned in post 1213.

 

[Thanos]

Oliver Torres can't even get into Atleticos starting lineup lol and Gundogan is made of glass