Paul Pogba

[Leo_Messi]

Neymar didn't do much either on club level prior to his transfer at Barca. Talent is talent, you can see it on the field. That transcends everything. We should pay as much as we possibly can to get this player. Even if it means no other transfers will be made that window.

Please don't compare Neymar with Pogba. At Pogba's age Neymar had already won almost everything in Brazil, including the Copa Libertadores, while being the absolute vocal point of his team Santos. In fact his goalscoring, overall play etc. drew comparisons to Pelé of all players. At his age Neymar was already the vocal point of the Brazilian national team (the greatest and most prestigious national team of all time boasting more legendary attacking players historically than any other national team), a player who had already scored 35 goals for Brazil while being the vocal point of his team during a World Cup and been transferred to FCB.

I don't buy that comparison.

Neymar was and is by far the best attacking player in his age group. The only player that is comparable to him is Hazard.

Can you say the same about Pogba? Does he have the same resume as a player? More importantly is he worthy of such an insane transfer sum and salary?

Nah, don't think so mate.

 

[Morten]

Please don't compare Neymar with Pogba. At Pogba's age Neymar had already won almost everything in Brazil, including the Copa Libertadores, while being the absolute vocal point of his team Santos. In fact his goalscoring, overall play etc. drew comparisons to Pelé of all players. At his age Neymar was already the vocal point of the Brazilian national team (the greatest and most prestigious national team of all time boasting more legendary attacking players historically than any other national team), a player who had already scored 35 goals for Brazil while being the vocal point of his team during a World Cup and been transferred to FCB.

I don't buy that comparison.

Neymar was and is by far the best attacking player in his age group. The only player that is comparable to him is Hazard.

Can you say the same about Pogba? Does he have the same resume as a player? More importantly is he worthy of such an insane transfer sum and salary?

Nah, don't think so mate.

Why do you keep comparing attackers to midfielders? Compare midfielders with midfielders, thanks.

 

[serghei]

Pogba has buckets of talent and he's 22. That makes him a golden signing for any team on this planet. He's one of the most sought-after players on the market, much like Neymar was in 2013. There's plenty of room for comparisons, regardless of their position on the field IMO.

 

[Leo_Messi]

I dont know, if he hasnt, he can wait until next season
Anyway, not saying he was close to being the best player in the world cup, but that prize is always going to go to a forward/attacker. Just as the biggest prizes on the club level always goes to strikers/attackers.

Morten, that might very well be the case but I can only judge him on what I have seen and Pogba is not worth that kind of money. This is said by someone who follows Serie A on a weekly basis. When most others here watch PL I watch Serie A as PL does not interest me the slightest outside of the few top games that I find interesting.

Why do you keep comparing attackers to midfielders? Compare midfielders with midfielders, thanks.

What? Serghei was the one that started comparing Neymar with Pogba.

 

[Alik]

Why do you keep comparing attackers to midfielders? Compare midfielders with midfielders, thanks.

Serghei is the one who compared them.

 

[Hamzah]

Neymar was more of a talent than Pogba imo. When I first saw him play I could tell he had that mentality in the way he played along with his takent (which was raw) to make it big.

 

[Morten]

Morten, that might very well be the case but I can only judge him on what I have seen and Pogba is not worth that kind of money. This is said by someone who follows Serie A on a weekly basis. When most others here watch PL I watch Serie A as PL does not interest me the slightest outside of the few top games that I find interesting.



What? Serghei was the one that started comparing Neymar with Pogba.

Then you probably know more about Pogba than me, i hardly watch or know anything that is going on in Serie A, other than how Higuain is doing ofc and that Juve pretty much run the show.
Ah, so it wasnt you how compared them? Ok.

 

[serghei]

In 2013 Neymar was the best thing on the market along with Bale. A year later, it was Suarez and James. Now it's Pogba. It's how it goes. Barca and Real are the best because they usually sign those high-profile players when they get available (which is very rarely). There are a couple of non-selling teams. Us, Real, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern, City, United mostly. Big money teams, financially strong and direct competitors for us and Madrid (United not so much at the moment, still trying to get back to tier 1). When Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico and other teams like that, who are top teams but don't really pay huge wages and don't usually compete for european glory are willing to let a key, world class player go, you have to make a move.

Neymar was more of a talent than Pogba imo. When I first saw him play I could tell he had that mentality in the way he played along with his takent (which was raw) to make it big.

Pogba is the same for me. There is a very high chance he'll become the best CM in the world at Barcelona if he gets here. Much like Neymar (one of the best wingers-forwards in the game). I knew he was a great signing regardless of the price. The skill wass there, and it showed through moments of brillance, and less so through consistency. Pogba is the same, not very consistent, but brilliant at times. At Barca he will become consistently brilliant, like Neymar has become.

 

[Leo_Messi]

Then you probably know more about Pogba than me, i hardly watch or know anything that is going on in Serie A, other than how Higuain is doing ofc and that Juve pretty much run the show.
Ah, so it wasnt you how compared them? Ok.

As I said the only reason why I am against buying Pogba is the rumored price (100 million euros) and his rumored insane wage demands. As I wrote earlier in this thread, I would buy him tonight if Juve's asking price was 60 million euros for instance. I would even consider paying 70 million euros for him.

So it's not because I don't rate him or think that he would flop tremendously or that he cannot improve further.

1) I consider the rumored asking price (approximately 100 million euros) to be an insane amount of money considering his track record, current level and position.

2) I consider his rumored wage demands to be insane. As I told you guys then Sport and EMD (other Spanish media too) have reported that Raiola and Pogba want to earn only second to Messi. I believe that such a move could destroy the harmony of our squad. Something that we have been famed for since Pep arrived in 2008.

3) While I consider Pogba to be a great talent and a great player I think that there are other options out there who would be better. For instance I mentioned mentioned Koke and Gündogan for that kind of money. Or Koke and Óliver Torres.

4) Despite the fact that transfer fees of tops players are constantly increasing and the financial strength of the football world is constantly rising, I don't think that this warrants us paying this much for Pogba. Especially not as we do not have unlimited funds and the fact that we have several positions to strengthen in the not so distant future. For instance finding replacements for Alves, Mascherano and Iniesta as I wrote earlier.

There are other reasons too but those are the main ones that I can think of.

 

[Morten]

As I said the only reason why I am against buying Pogba is the rumored price (100 million euros) and his rumored insane wage demands. As I wrote earlier in this thread, I would buy him tonight if Juve's asking price was 60 million euros for instance. I would even consider paying 70 million euros for him.

So it's not because I don't rate him or think that he would flop tremendously or that he cannot improve further.

1) I consider the rumored asking price (approximately 100 million euros) to be an insane amount of money considering his track record, current level and position.

2) I consider his rumored wage demands to be insane. As I told you guys then Sport and EMD (other Spanish media too) have reported that Raiola and Pogba want to earn only second to Messi. I believe that such a move could destroy the harmony of our squad. Something that we have been famed for since Pep arrived in 2008.

3) While I consider Pogba to be a great talent and a great player I think that there are other options out there who would be better. For instance I mentioned mentioned Koke and Gündogan for that kind of money. Or Koke and Óliver Torres.

4) Despite the fact that transfer fees of tops players are constantly increasing and the financial strength of the football world is constantly rising, I don't think that this warrants us paying this much for Pogba. Especially not as we do not have unlimited funds and the fact that we have several positions to strengthen in the not so distant future. For instance finding replacements for Alves, Mascherano and Iniesta as I wrote earlier.

There are other reasons too but those are the main ones that I can think of.

Well, the price isnt much of an issue for the fans of such big clubs. For instance, do you think i cared about Bales price when he scored in the two finals last season? Now its a bit different, but a year back i wouldnt have cared if it was 50 mill or 150, tbh,

 

[Leo_Messi]

I forgot to mention that I consider a package of Koke and Gündogan (they could be bought for that amount of money and you would still have some left even) to be more secure picks in terms of the possibility of becoming flops and fitting into our team.

Another thing. I am writing this because I actually thing that we might buy Pogba either this summer or the next summer which kind of worries me for the reasons that I have given above. Contrary to what I wrote to Alcórcon earlier. This is due to Braida, that Bartomeu is definitely interested in Pogba, due to the elections and our good relations with the Juve board.

Not only that I suspect that Pogba is unwilling to move back to the PL. Man Utd could probably afford him but I doubt that he would move back to them. While Man City have the money the sporting project is hardly that impressive and he wants to win the CL. Man City cannot guarantee him that. Liverpool is out of question. So is Wenger's Arsenal. That leaves us Chelsea and they have the FFP to think about if I am not mistaken and I doubt that Pogba would prefer them over us.

There are no other options in Italy than Juve nor would Juve sell to another Italian club even if Pogba wanted to move to another club in Italy or they could afford him which they cannot.

Pogba is apparently not interested in moving to PSG and I doubt that he would want to play in Ligue 1 which is a worse league than Serie A. PSG is a smaller club than Juventus too. He wants to take a step up in his career. Moving to PSG would not be that. Only financially.

That leaves us with Bayern München, FCB and RM.

I don't think that Pogba is interested in moving to Germany and playing in the Bundesliga nor is Bayern lacking any midfielders.

I could see Pogba wanting to move to RM but after Raiola's comments I see that as unlikely. Especially as RM are stacked with midfielders already. You never know with them though. Unlike us they do not have a transfer ban (might get one soon though, the local media agrees), they have Zidane as a carrot and Pérez is Pérez. The thing though is that RM does not lack midfielders unlike us.

That leaves us. So yes, we are definitely a probable destination for Pogba and Raiola.

Well, the price isnt much of an issue for the fans of such big clubs. For instance, do you think i cared about Bales price when he scored in the two finals last season? Now its a bit different, but a year back i wouldnt have cared if it was 50 mill or 150, tbh,

Many Spaniards do due to the economic situation of the country and because they like me find such prices absurd in the first place. Bale was not even worth that much money in the first place. He was/is no Ronaldo or Neymar.

 

[antonnn]

The price isn't as big an issue as it may sound, especially as Barca do make a lot of money, but you still don't want to pay 100m and then they flop. There's always a risk involved. I mean, when Chelsea payed something like £32m for Hazard(true he was from Ligue 1 but still) and then you have Pogba for €100m, it's hard to find the value sometimes. But then you have Luiz for £50m. The market sure is crazy.

 

[Bertus]

Oh my, I know it won't happen, but a midfield matuidi+verratti+pogba would be like putting together Batman+Superman+Spiderman

 

[serghei]

The price isn't as big an issue as it may sound, especially as Barca do make a lot of money, but you still don't want to pay 100m and then they flop. There's always a risk involved. I mean, when Chelsea payed something like £32m for Hazard(true he was from Ligue 1 but still) and then you have Pogba for €100m, it's hard to find the value sometimes. But then you have Luiz for £50m. The market sure is crazy.

Hazard was the perfect transfer. For every Hazard, there's 5-6 Schurrles.

 

[Jair Ventura]

Eh... Pogba is going to be awesome wherever he lands, and would be especially so at Barca or RM. His potential is second to none and that includes players such as Neymar, Leo Messi just likes to hear himself talk. 100m is steep but it's today's market, and as has already been alluded, whatever club signs him will easily make that back in merchandising and marketing alone. If he busts? Put him back on the market for a comparable fee, even if it's at 90% of what you initially paid.

It's hard to see the negatives in this signing. Juve, Real, or Paris fans will be happy come fall.